Liz Truss slams China's 'inflammatory' response to Pelosi's visit; asks to de-escalate

Just moments after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi concluded her high-stake first in a 25 years visit to Taiwan despite warnings from Biden administration officials, British Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, on Aug 3 berated China’s so-called “inflammatory” reaction to tour. Truss, who has been garnering support from G7 group to ensure that self-administered island has " defence capability it needs” towards its sovereignty, called to de-escalate tensions as China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) kick-started military drills in contentious Taiwan Strait. 

While Pelosi made trip to ally Taiwan despite strings of warnings from China threatening “countermeasures,” tensions soared to an all-time high as Beijing stepped up its military presence in at least six coastal zones within 12 miles of island's sovereign waters. Chinese PLA has initiated live-fire exercises in Taiwanese waters with missile systems, and artillery.

Expressing concern about China’s anti-Pelosi rhetoric and flexing military muscle, UK’s foreign secretary, during her campaign speech in Ludlow, Shropshire said: “I do t support China’s inflammatory langu on this issue.” Furrmore, she demanded that Beijing dissolve tensions saying, “It’s perfectly reasonable what is taking place and I urge China to de-escalate.”

In an interview with BBC Radio 4, Conservative MP Rishi Sunak's supporter Alicia Kearns slammed  Chinese Communist party [CCP] for turning Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan into a “flashpoint” for military escalation.  “y’ve placed this ermous strategic importance on visit when y could actually have just dismissed it out of hand as thing more than a political stunt or a low-level delegation," said British official. “But y’re choosing to use it to draw a line in sand and I think that shows how worried y are and how important this is for Xi Jinping as he attempts to reconsolidate his position going into 20th national congress of Chinese Communist party.”

Truss' remarks come as a delegation of UK MPs from Commons foreign affairs select committee are planning a similar visit to Taiwan later this year. “We visit allies all over world, we also visit our friends and we try to understand biggest issues facing our country and also international security,” UK's Kearns stressed. 

In a wide-ranging democratic Taiwan rhetoric, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss had also earlier suggested supplying defensive weaponry to Taiwan to counter China's aggression "well in advance" to prevent a Ukraine war-like scenario. Truss insisted that NATO must "make clear to China" that invading Taiwan in a Russian-style invasion would be “a catastrophic miscalculation" in Asia. alliance must boost security in Indo-Pacific region in order to protect Taiwan against China well in advance, Truss cautioned. She reiterated that Britain rejects “ false choice between Euro-Atlantic security and Indo-Pacific security” in favour of “a global NATO.”

Pelosi's vision of 'democratic Taiwan' irks China 

In Taiwan, Pelosi widely propagated vision of a democratic Taiwan, stating that “world [today] faces a choice between democracy and autocracy.” US House Speaker swore America’s ‘ironclad’ support to self-ruled island, underscoring its so-called “determination to preserve democracy here in Taiwan and around world,” a mess which irked China that has earnestly worked to isolate Taiwan for many years. 

"Sadly, Taiwan has been prevented from participating in global meetings, most recently World Health Organization, because of objections by Chinese Communist Party," Pelosi said in a statement.

"While y may prevent Taiwan from sending its leaders to global forums, y cant prevent world leaders or anyone from travelling to Taiwan to pay respect to its flourishing Democracy, highlight its many successes and reaffirm our commitment to continued collaboration."

In a regular briefing, Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for Chinese foreign ministry, warned of unfathomable consequences that await United States and Taiwan for highest-ranking American official Pelosi’s once-in-a-quarter-century visit turning a new p in US-China rivalry. 

As latter ramped up its military posture, foreign ministers of Group of Seven (G7) nations urged China and US to look for a peaceful resolution to tensions simmering over US officials’ visit. "re is justification to use a visit as a pretext for aggressive military activity in Taiwan Strait. It is rmal and routine for legislators from our countries to travel internationally," G7 foreign ministers said in a joint statement released on Aug 3. y also propelled caution that Beijing’s military activities risk destabilising region.