Taiwan

[OFSO]

On reading that Liz Truss is flying to Taiwan to speak on the subject of Democracy, my initial thought was that her visit has been subsidised by the Chinese Government.

[Boac]

She is probably going to promote pork.

[Woody]

Is Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwanese President aware of Truss’s record with heads of state, assuming that there’s a planned meeting

[OneHungLow]

Is Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwanese President aware of Truss’s record with heads of state, assuming that there’s a planned meeting

The woman is a blithering self-promoting, deluded idiot, and her arrival in Taiwan can only bode badly for that island's people. Cue economic collapse, earthquakes, tsunamis and mass suicides when the unwitting Taiwanese start to listen to her monotonic drivel, uttered as if from the mouth of a blow up doll! She is a roving disaster area.

We shouldn't kowtow to the Chinese but Truss's ill starred self promotion tour to Taiwan plays directly into Chinese hands!

The Conservative chair of the foreign affairs select committee has launched a blistering attack on Liz Truss over the former prime minister’s planned trip to Taiwan, calling it “the worst kind of Instagram diplomacy”.

Alicia Kearns said she thought Truss’s trip planned for next week was little more than a vanity project aimed at keeping her profile high after her brief spell as prime minister last year.

Truss is planning to travel to show “solidarity” with the Taiwanese people amid aggression from Beijing. Taiwan is a self-governing democracy, but Beijing regards it as a renegade province which must be reunited with the mainland.

Truss’s trip has the potential to upset the British government’s carefully balanced approach to Chinese relations, with the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, arguing the UK should not “pull the shutters down on China”.

Kearns said: “The trip is performative, not substantive. It is the worst kind of example of Instagram diplomacy.”

She added that the trip was likely to make life harder for the Taiwanese people, who already have to live with a higher level of Chinese military action on their doorstep after the visit by Nancy Pelosi, then the speaker of the US House of Representatives.

Beijing responded to that visit by dispatching warships and military jets to surround the island and firing missiles over it.

“It is deeply unhelpful because it escalates the normal situation in Taiwan,” Kearns said. “Taiwanese people already have to live with more Chinese military manoeuvres because of Nancy Pelosi’s visit. Liz Truss doesn’t have any influence any more – this is more about keeping herself relevant.”

A spokesperson for Truss hit back saying: “The former prime minister has been invited to visit by the Taiwan government. They are better placed to know what is in the interests of the Taiwanese people than the MP for Rutland.

“The future of Taiwan as a free democracy is at stake. Alicia Kearns should apologise for misusing her position as a select committee chair to engage in petty political attacks.”

Truss announced on Tuesday she planned to visit the island, calling it a “beacon of freedom and democracy”.

The trip follows one to Washington last month, where she gave the annual Margaret Thatcher freedom lecture to the conservative thinktank the Heritage Foundation. She used that speech to attack “wokeism” and argue that her downfall had been the result of a conspiracy by vested interests within the government.

The government has not commented except to say that it would not get involved in the “independent travel decisions of a private citizen who is not a member of the government”.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ttee-chair

[Boac]

a private citizen who is not a member of the government

Funny. I thought an MP was "a member of the government"?

[OneHungLow]

a private citizen who is not a member of the government

Funny. I thought an MP was "a member of the government"?

I guess we shouldn't expect any factually reliable comment from the government either!

[G-CPTN]

HM Government consists of the Prime Minister, their Cabinet and junior ministers, supported by the teams of non-political civil servants that work in government departments.

[Boac]

Well I never..........

[OneHungLow]

HM Government consists of the Prime Minister, their Cabinet and junior ministers, supported by the teams of non-political civil servants that work in government departments.

Perfectly factually correct G-CPTN, but the government's response still borders on dissembling, as a recent (albeit disastrous) PM and still sitting MP under the Tory whip, is very much regarded, no matter what the legalese, by the greater public, and more importantly, by the Chinese, as being privy to and a mouthpiece for policies of the current sitting government.

The government's response in this case speaks to lack of MP discipline and the weakness of leadership therein! If Truss insists on her rights as a citizen in this case she should at least have the Conservative whip withdrawn.

[Ex-Ascot]

In what role is she going? A two minute ex-PM.

This is not good news.

[Boac]

she should at least have the Conservative whip withdrawn

I don't think 'Richy' is strong enough to take the flak on that.

[OneHungLow]

she should at least have the Conservative whip withdrawn

I don't think 'Richy' is strong enough to take the flak on that.

+1

[OneHungLow]

Sunak's weakness is manifest and continues to embarrass him and his government. Truss is a total liability to her herself, to her party and to Britain!

Liz Truss’s visit to Taiwan risks undermining Rishi Sunak on the world stage, senior Conservatives have warned.

The former prime minister was accused of embarking on a trip that looks “selfish and disloyal” and which will “complicate” the government’s position on China.

It comes as Mr Sunak prepares to attend his first meeting of the G7 group of world leaders, at which the issue of how to deal with China is expected to be discussed.

Ms Truss will visit Taiwan this week to give a speech billed as showing "solidarity" with the self-governed island in the face of "increasingly aggressive behaviour" from Beijing.

She is expected to urge the West to “get real about military and defence cooperation” to avoid conflict in the South China Sea, saying: “We cannot pretend there can be meaningful deterrence without hard power.”

Taiwan is self-governing and a democracy but is viewed by China as a breakaway province which must unite with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Tobias Ellwood, the chair of the Commons defence committee, said of Ms Truss’s trip: “All former Tory prime ministers recognise how every single comment, speech or public engagement given will be scrutinised by the media to see if they are faithful to their successor.

“If there is a question that any action might challenge or distract from the party’s current agenda or electoral prospects then the former PMs should ask themselves why go ahead as it will simply look selfish and disloyal.”

He added: “Beijing will not recognise Truss travelling as independent from government but will interpret this as instructions from No 10.

“It, therefore, complicates the government’s own position on China”.

Former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind predicted the trip would trigger a “very adverse hostile reaction from the Chinese”.

“The Chinese government will assume, because it would automatically apply in their own case, that if Ms Truss as a former British prime minister is going to Taiwan it must be with the approval of our government,” he added.

Another Tory former cabinet minister quipped: “Let’s hope she does not trigger an invasion”.

No 10 declined to comment.

The government has said it would not get involved in the “independent travel decisions of a private citizen who is not a member of the government”.

An ally of Ms Truss accused those criticising the visit of playing into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.

They said: “We know all too well that the Chinese government is hostile to Western visitors going to Taiwan: President Xi is trying to bully Western politicians into not visiting or speaking out on this issue precisely so that a takeover of Taiwan can eventually become a fait accompli. Liz is not going to be bullied by the regime in Beijing and those carping from the sidelines about her visit are playing into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party’s agenda and ought to be ashamed of themselves.”

- https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ttee-chair

The Tory party is fighting like a pack of rats in a sack!

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Well, they are certainly in the dark, cut off from the real world, and doing nothing useful.

[Boac]

Soooooh - will it be Bo-rat that emerges victorious, with blood dripping from his chubby boyish cheeks, having killed off rich-rat and his mates (and probably mated with Pat-rat and Nad-rat in a victorious frenzy of unbridled lust)?

I will borrow the mad one's grain of rice for replies.