China would be making “a catastrophic miscalculation” if it invaded Taiwan according to Liz Truss. She has told the NATO summit that the UK and other countries should reconsider trading relationships with countries that used economic power in “coercive” ways.
“I do think that with China extending its influence through economic coercion and building a capable military, there is a real risk that they draw the wrong idea that results in a catastrophic miscalculation such as invading Taiwan,” Truss said, speaking alongside Anthony Albanese, the Australian prime minister, and Alexander De Croo, the Belgian prime minister.
The G7 countries and nations such as Australia should use their “economic weight” to challenge China, she said, adding that countries such as the UK could even rethink their approach to trade with Beijing.
“I think historically we haven’t used that economic power,” she said. “We’ve been equidistant, if you like, about who we trade with, who we work with. And I think countries are becoming much more focused now on, is this trade with trust, do we trust this partner? Are they going to use it to undermine us, or are they going to use it for the mutual benefit of both of our economies? So trade has got a lot more geopolitical.”
Speaking on Tuesday before the Commons foreign affairs committee, Truss struck an exceedingly hawkish tone saying that weapons should be sent to Taiwan ASAP.
“We should have done things earlier. We should have been supplying the defensive weapons into Ukraine earlier,” she said. “We need to learn that lesson for Taiwan. Every piece of equipment we have sent takes months of training, so the sooner we do it, the better.”
Unity News Network (UNN) Staff Writer | To find out more details about our staff, please head to the About Us section on our website.
