A potential conflict between China and Taiwan is of global concern and an invasion would collapse the Chinese economy, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly said on Monday.
A Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be “a catastrophically bad thing” for the world, collapsing the Chinese economy and bringing a number of other economies down with it, Cleverly said during an interview with the Chinese Whispers podcast.
He rejected Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is a Chinese domestic issue as “disruption across the Taiwan Strait is everybody’s business,” as huge international trade volumes, including key components of modern life, are shipped through the Taiwan Strait every day.
Photo: EPA-EFE
As the Chinese economy is “not all-powerful” at the moment and its economic dominance “not inevitable,” cross-strait conflict is not in China’s interest, he said.
In response to the cross-strait situation, the UK has been drawing up contingency planning “for a whole range of eventualities,” he said, adding that “preventing that outcome from happening is an absolute core plank of UK foreign policy in the Pacific and the Indo-Pacific region.”
Cleverly also defended his visit to China and meeting with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) in August, saying: “That a foreign secretary flies to a foreign country to have meetings should not be controversial.”
The UK has toughened its stance on investment from China and taken practical measures to protect against all forms of foreign interference, he said.
Greater priority has been put on security and protections against inappropriate Chinese behaviors over commercial and trade relations, which is a position taken by the UK and many other nations, Cleverly said.
“Of course, we will trade with China. Of course, we will have investment from China, but we do so with our eyes wide open,” he said.
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