British MPs risk wrath of China with planned trip to Taiwan

British MPs risk wrath of China with planned trip to Taiwan

The British parliament’s foreign affairs committee is expected to make a trip to Taiwan in February, risking the wrath of China amid heightened tensions with Beijing. The trip, which follows in the path of similar political delegations last year from the US Congress, French, Czech and European parliaments, is likely to infuriate China, which has repeatedly warned the West to cut bilateral ties with Taiwan, which it claims as its own territory. But the arrival of British MPs to the democratic island will signal its growing importance to the government’s post-Brexit Indo-Pacific “tilt” on foreign and security policy. Britain, which recently signed the new “Aukus” pact with the US t o help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines, has increasingly shown willingness to challenge China over issues like Taiwan’s autonomy, and human rights in its former colony of Hong Kong. Labour MP Chris Bryant, who sits on the foreign affairs committee, indicated Taiwan was a top priority when he revealed in a BBC Radio interview that a trip was in the works. “I’m the only member of the foreign affairs committee in the country today because everyone is in Bosnia. We were in Ukraine last week, Bosnia this week and we’re going