A British minister will visit Taiwan this week for trade negotiations and to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen, according to his office, eliciting an angry response from Beijing to the latest high-level engagement between a Western government and the island.
China considers democratically-governed Taiwan to be its own territory and actively opposes any official interactions between Taipei and foreign countries, interpreting them as support for Taiwan’s independence from China.
During his two-day visit, Britain’s Department for International Trade stated Greg Hands, minister of state for trade and a member of parliament, would meet Tsai and co-host the 25th annual UK-Taiwan Trade Talks.
‘Visiting Taiwan in person demonstrates the UK’s commitment to strengthening UK-Taiwan trade ties. Taiwan, like the United Kingdom, is a proponent of free and fair trade underpinned by a global trading system based on rules,’ his office issued a statement.
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