British minister to visit Taiwan for trade talks

British minister of state for trade, Greg Hands, will visit Taiwan and co-host the 25th annual UK-Taiwan Trade Talks during his two-day visit.

Britain’s Department for International Trade said  Hands, who is also a member of parliament, will meet Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen during his visit.

“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,” his office said in a statement.

Hands will also meet Taiwan’s top trade negotiator John Deng and Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua, it added.

Taiwan views Britain as a like-minded democratic partner and has welcomed London’s concerns over recent Chinese war games near the island.

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Britain has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan but the two have close economic and informal relations and Britain maintains a de facto embassy in Taipei.

Western lawmakers and other officials have been stepping up their visits to Taiwan, despite Beijing’s strong objections, which views the island as its own territory and bristles at anything which implies it is a separate country.

Britain, like Taiwan, is also bidding to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP.

Members agreed in February that Britain can proceed with its application, as it looks for new trading relationships after leaving the European Union. China has applied to join as well.

China staged war games near Taiwan in August following a visit to Taipei by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Zainab Sa’id