Citing Ukraine, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss warns China its rise depends on playing by the rules
- The top British diplomat pointed to Russia’s isolation after its invasion, saying that market access to democratic countries was no longer a given
- Truss also said the West should ensure that Taiwan can defend itself, and work with allies to pre-empt threats in the Indo-Pacific
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Wednesday warned China that failure to play by global rules would cut short its rise as a superpower, and said the West should ensure that Taiwan can defend itself.
Renewing her call to boost Nato, Truss said moves to isolate Russia from the world economy in response to its invasion of Ukraine proved that market access to democratic countries was no longer a given.
“Countries must play by the rules. And that includes China,” Truss said in a speech at Mansion House in London.
Britain, the world’s sixth-largest economy, is dwarfed economically and militarily by China, but believes that via soft power and strategic alliances it can help persuade Beijing to play by the rules of a new, more dynamic international system.
01:51
Biden says China’s economic future is ‘more closely tied to the West’ than to Russia
China’s economic and military rise over the past 40 years is considered to be one of the most significant geopolitical events of recent times, alongside the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union which ended the Cold War.