Former PM will warn in Tokyo ‘free world is in danger’ in apparent attempt to put pressure on Rishi Sunak
Britain and the rest of the G7 should urgently agree a tough package of sanctions to impose on China if it escalates military tensions with Taiwan, Liz Truss will argue, as she uses her first public overseas speech to pile pressure onSpeaking in Tokyo on Friday, the former prime minister will urge her successor to be more hawkish in standing up to Beijing, warning coordinated action is needed to block “the rise of a totalitarian China” given “the free world is in danger”.
Her speech is a further attempt to rebuild her political reputation, after resigning in October and becoming the UK’s shortest-serving prime minister. During the summer Conservative leadership contest, the then foreign secretary and her allies sought to present her as more hawkish in standing up to Beijing and less enticed by closer economic ties, given concerns about human rights abuses in Xinjiang, the erosion of democracy in Hong Kong and military tensions with Taiwan.
But Russia’s economy is substantially smaller, and any sanctions against China would carry potentially much greater consequences for the global economy.earlier this week that government officials were strategising a series of scenarios about the economic fallout if China invaded Taiwan – both due to the disruption to supply chains of items like microchips and the impact of sanctions.
Taiwan is a “beacon of freedom” and “flourishing democracy, with a thriving free press and an independent judiciary”, Truss will stress, adding that the UK should “learn from the past” and “ensure that Taiwan is able to defend itself”.
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