British Parliament calls Taiwan 'independent country' as foreign secretary visits China

The British parliament has called Taiwan an "independent country" in a report prepared by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee of the House of Commons.

The report published on Wednesday, might put Foreign Secretary James Cleverly in a precarious situation as he visits China this week. Cleverly has become the first prominent British envoy to visit Beijing in five years.

"Taiwan is already an independent country, under the name Republic of China," the committee report says. "Taiwan possesses all the qualifications for statehood, including a permanent population, a defined territory, government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other states — it is only lacking greater international recognition."

The report also suggested actions that the UK might take to deter China from using force against Taiwan. It said that the UK may publicly and privately urge China to show some restraint or work with allies to prepare economic sanctions against China to be imposed in "the event of an invasion or economic blockade of Taiwan."

It further stated that the UK must loosen self-imposed restrictions on interactions with Taiwanese officials. It also underlined that the UK's "One China" policy is not the same as China's "One China" principle and added that it merely acknowledges Beijing's position.

"The UK needs to build on its existing cooperation with Taiwan and with like-minded partner countries to help achieve Taiwan's peaceful objectives and strengthen its resilience. This is not a threat to the CCP, but a friendship with a fellow democracy," it adds.

The "Taiwan issue"

China considers Taiwan its wayward province and does not approve of the island nation holding separate diplomatic relations with major countries.

It has never ruled out the use of force to bring Taipei under its control, but since Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen took office, Beijing fears the democratic leader may seek independence for the self-ruled nation.

Taiwan has long warned Beijing against increasing its military activities in its airspace, but China has only increased military activities in the past two years to force Taiwan to accept its rule.

China has ramped up economic, military, and diplomatic pressure on the island over the last few years; however, military tensions between Beijing and Taipei are at their peak right now.

The tensions between the two nations have flared up since US Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in August last year. Pelosi's visit was the highest-level US visit to Taiwan in 25 years. Taiwan has been on alert since Russia invaded Ukraine and believes that China could make a similar move.

UK-China relations:

The committee also called for the UK government to reveal its China strategy, which has been withheld from ministers and other officials due to security reasons. It says that it only makes it difficult for "both state and non-state actors, including civil servants, academics, and businesses," to comply with government plans.

It says that China poses a significant threat to the UK on many different levels and asks the government to publish an unclassified version of its China strategy.

The blunt report comes at a time when Britain is working to improve its relations with China. Under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the relationship between the two countries took a severe hit.

Cleverly believes that isolating the world's second-largest economy may prove detrimental to the UK's economy and interests. Britain has been China's harshest critic for the last few years; however, the current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government is now trying to improve the relationship.

Sunak maintains that it is important to continue to engage in talks with Beijing. His office is even trying to set up a meeting with the leaders of the two countries at the G20 summit in India next month.