British minister arrives in Taiwan to talk trade with Tsai and others

Name: Rishi Sunak set to be UK’s next prime minister
Uploaded: 2022-11-07T09:30:15.000Z
Duration: 2 min 14 s
Description: Rishi Sunak set to be UK’s next prime minister

Greg Hands says trading boost with the island is part of Britain’s post-Brexit tilt towards the Indo-Pacific

Two-day visit is first by a high-level official since Rishi Sunak took office, with expectations he will take a harder stance on Beijing

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Britain’s trade minister Greg Hands is in Taipei to co-host the first in-person UK-Taiwan trade talks since the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: Shutterstock

Lawrence Chungin Taipei

Published: 5:30pm, 7 Nov 2022

British Trade Policy Minister Greg Hands is in Taiwan for talks with senior officials, including the island’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, in a trip likely to rile Beijing as tensions with Taipei escalate.

The two-day visit, which began on Monday, bears political significance as the first by a high-level British official since Prime Minister Rishi Sunak took office last month. Britain’s new leader looks set to take a harder stance on Beijing.

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Rishi Sunak set to be UK’s next prime minister

During Sunak’s losing election campaign against his predecessor Liz Truss, he labelled the Asian superpower one of “the biggest, long-term threats to Britain”, and promised to get tough on Beijing.

Britain’s Department for International Trade said Hands would co-host the first in-person high-level trade talks with Taipei since the pandemic, “to boost trade and future-proof our economy through collaboration on green trade and supply chains”.

First held in 1991, the UK-Taiwan trade talks in Taipei were conducted virtually in 2020 and 2021 because of Covid-19.

The department said Hands would use the talks to tackle barriers to trade and promote British expertise in areas like offshore wind and hydrogen.

“Visiting Taiwan in person is a clear signal of the UK’s commitment to boosting UK-Taiwan trade ties. Like the UK, Taiwan is a champion of free and fair trade underpinned by a rules-based global trading system,” it said.