Britain and Taiwan have much in common and face many challenges as likeminded partners, a British minister told Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday in Taipei, the latest Western official to visit in defiance of Chinese demands such trips stop, APA reports citing Reuters.
China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and strongly objects to any official interactions between the island and foreign governments, believing it to be support for Taiwan’s desire to be recognised as its own country.
“Our relationship reaches beyond trade and investment – as two groups of islands with strong democracies and institutions, we have much in common, and face many challenges as likeminded partners,” Greg Hands, Britain’s minister of state for trade, told Tsai, his office said in a statement.
China’s foreign ministry this week expressed anger at the trip, saying Britain should stop any official exchanges with Taiwan.