The UK would pressure China to respect freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Cameron told the British parliament on Tuesday, adding that London has asked Beijing to hold talks on the matter.
He made the remark during a session at the House of Lords, when British politician David Alton asked him about London’s China deterrence policy, beyond its involvement in the AUKUS security pact between Australia, the UK and the US.
A war over Taiwan would cause US$10 trillion in losses to the global economy, a sum equivalent to 10 percent of the world’s GDP, Alton said, citing Bloomberg Economics.
Photo: AFP
China should join the UK in supporting freedom of navigation, as the two nations are reliant on international trade, Cameron said, adding that this freedom is important in every region of the world, including the Taiwan Strait.
The UK should try to find common ground with China, despite the differences that exist between the two sides and the epoch-defining challenge Beijing poses to British interests, Cameron said.
The UK has shown commitment to upholding freedom of navigation by conductng joint strikes with the US on Houthi forces in the Red Sea, which accounts for 15 percent of global maritime traffic, he said.
In January, a Houthi spokesperson was cited as saying by a Moscow-backed outlet that Houthi forces would not attack Chinese and Russian ships in the region.
Cameron, a former British prime minister, met Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) in December last year, just a month after being tapped as the British foreign secretary in a Cabinet reshuffle by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Separately, the Guardian said in a report yesterday that Cameron is expected to meet Wang this weekend, citing two anonymous government sources.
The meeting would take place on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, the Guardian said.
The British Foreign Office has not confirmed the report, stating only that Cameron would visit Poland and Bulgaria before taking part in the Munich event.
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