British Minister of State for Security Tom Tugendhat on Wednesday met with Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang (唐鳳) to discuss mutual security interests, Reuters cited people with knowledge of the talks as saying.
The meeting broke with the UK’s conventional foreign policy, the report said.
Britain has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Photo: Reuters
Although junior British ministers hold talks with their Taiwanese counterparts, the convention was that senior British ministers do not meet with Taiwanese officials.
One source said that Tugendhat’s meeting with Tang was about mutual security interests.
Tugendhat, who was sanctioned by China two years ago for speaking out about alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang, is not a full Cabinet minister, but attends Cabinet meetings in his role as security minister, which puts him in charge of countering terrorism, domestic state threats and economic crime.
Luke de Pulford, executive director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a group made up of lawmakers from democratic countries concerned about Beijing’s behavior, said that to his knowledge it was the first time a British minister who attends Cabinet had met with a Taiwanese minister.
“This is extremely welcome and sends the right message,” De Pulford said. “The security minister should be congratulated for facing down pressure from other departments and setting a new precedent, which all ministers can now follow.”
The sensitivity of the meeting was borne out by the reluctance of several serving officials and departments to talk to reporters about what was discussed.
A spokeswoman for the British Home Office said: “We do not routinely comment on private ministerial meetings.”
Tang’s office declined to comment.
In other developments, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) on Friday met with members of the European Parliament in Brussels, including European Parliament Vice President Nicola Beer, as part of a previously announced European tour.
Prior to visiting Brussels, Wu, who arrived in Europe on Monday, made stops in Poland and the Czech Republic, international media reported.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not provide a detailed itinerary for Wu’s trip, divulging only that he planned to give a talk at a summit and meet with Ukrainian refugees in Prague.
Knowledge of Wu’s Brussels visit became public after several members of the European parliament shared photographs on social media of themselves with the foreign minister.
Beer, who led the highest-level delegation from the European Parliament to Taiwan in July last year, welcomed Wu’s visit to Brussels following their meeting with six other members of parliament.
“Taiwan is an important and reliable economic partner for the EU and a firm member of the democratic family,” Beer wrote on Twitter, adding that they “agreed to further intensify political, economic and civil exchange and cooperation between the EU & Taiwan.”
Member of the European Parliament Rasa Jukneviciene from Lithuania also said that Taiwan had been a vital part of the democratic world and that “defending its democracy is just as important as defending Ukraine’s.”
The European Commission has declined to say whether any EU officials were scheduled to meet with Wu.
Additional reporting by CNA
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we