Liz Truss to visit Taiwan and give speech that could upset UK’s China strategy

[webfact]

Liz Truss has set out her belief that western democracies should toughen their stance on Beijing. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA Media

 

Ex-PM, who is trying to revive career, says she will ‘show solidarity’ with Taiwan after Nancy Pelosi visit sparked furore

 

Ben Quinn, Kiran Stacey, and Helen Sullivan in Taipei

Liz Truss is to visit Taiwan next week, where she will deliver a speech likely to anger Beijing and potentially upset the UK government’s careful approach to China relations.

 

The former prime minister said on Tuesday: “Taiwan is a beacon of freedom and democracy. I’m looking forward to showing solidarity with the Taiwanese people in person in the face of increasingly aggressive behaviour and rhetoric from the regime in Beijing.”

 

Truss’s office said on Tuesday she was also expected to meet senior members of the Taiwanese government.

 

When the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, visited Taiwan last year, China claimed it had put its army on “high alert” and announced targeted military operations including missile tests.

 

Full story: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/may/09/liz-truss-to-visit-taiwan-and-give-speech-that-could-upset-uks-china-strategy

 

-- © Copyright The Guardian 2023-05-10

 

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[nglodnig]

Well, she's got a great track record - shortest-term PM EVER! 

 

who is trying to revive career, says she will ‘show solidarity’  yeah but upsetting everybody. What a study of incompetence she is.

[Smokey and the Bandit]

Why is she going, what is the point, she is just an ordinary MP?

 

[hotchilli]

2 hours ago, nglodnig said:

Well, she's got a great track record - shortest-term PM EVER! 

 

who is trying to revive career, says she will ‘show solidarity’  yeah but upsetting everybody. What a study of incompetence she is.

Upsetting China, not everyone.

[Chomper Higgot]

Wrecking the economy wasn’t enough, now she wants to play with matches around a powder keg.

 

 

[RuamRudy]

47 minutes ago, Smokey and the Bandit said:

Why is she going, what is the point, she is just an ordinary MP?

 

I can only think that it's some attempt to generate credibility, show her as a senior politician and former PM.

If she strides around the world's hot spots making vainglorious speeches, people might forget the reality of her abilities? I am sure they won't, but I guess she is worried about her legacy being nothing more than a joke.

[JonnyF]

Someone has to show some backbone against the disgraceful Chinese regime.

 

Well done Liz. Don't let the misogyny bring you down.

[RuamRudy]

7 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Someone has to show some backbone against the disgraceful Chinese regime.

 

Well done Liz. Don't let the misogyny bring you down.

Misogyny? Where?

[mrfill]

If they like her, could they please keep her.

[placeholder]

30 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Someone has to show some backbone against the disgraceful Chinese regime.

 

Well done Liz. Don't let the misogyny bring you down.

As Mort Sahl once said of a famous female actor: It's possible to dislike her for herself.

[JonnyF]

5 minutes ago, placeholder said:

As Mort Sahl once said of a famous female actor: It's possible to dislike her for herself.

Unless it's Meghan Markle. 

 

Anyway, back on topic. I fail to see why standing up to the Chinese regime draws such vitriol. Is it a communist solidarity thing? Or just fear of the regime? Cowardice? Dislike of strong women? I'm not sure, but whatever the reason I think Truss is on the right side of the argument here. 

[placeholder]

3 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Unless it's Meghan Markle. 

 

Anyway, back on topic. I fail to see why standing up to the Chinese regime draws such vitriol. Is it a communist solidarity thing? Or just fear of the regime? Cowardice? Dislike of strong women? I'm not sure, but whatever the reason I think Truss is on the right side of the argument here. 

I don't know that I would call a Margaret Thatcher impersonator a strong woman. Or, for that matter, someone who repeatedly revoked their proposals when she was PM.

That said, I do recall the vitriol poured upon Nancy Pelosi by right wingers when she went to Taiwan. And she was the Speaker of the House. Who is Truss speaking for? Her constituents?

[JonnyF]

29 minutes ago, placeholder said:

That said, I do recall the vitriol poured upon Nancy Pelosi by right wingers when she went to Taiwan.

The same left wingers criticizing Truss for speaking out against China were fully supportive of Pelosi in that instance. Weird huh?

 

It's almost like they have double standards or something...

[placeholder]

1 hour ago, JonnyF said:

The same left wingers criticizing Truss for speaking out against China were fully supportive of Pelosi in that instance. Weird huh?

 

It's almost like they have double standards or something...

I tried to find some evidence of Labour condemning Truss's visit. Whereas...

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-republicans-blast-nancy-pelosis-taiwan-trip-photo-op-foreign-policy

https://nypost.com/2022/08/02/trump-rips-pelosi-over-taiwan-trip-always-causing-trouble/

And the current govt certainly doesn't seemed thrilled about her trip:

 

"Asked about Ms Truss’s visit, a UK Government spokesman said: “We wouldn’t get involved in the independent travel decisions of a private citizen who is not a member of the Government.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/05/09/liz-truss-visit-taiwan-solidarity-against-china/

[RuamRudy]

1 hour ago, JonnyF said:

Unless it's Meghan Markle. 

 

Anyway, back on topic. I fail to see why standing up to the Chinese regime draws such vitriol. Is it a communist solidarity thing? Or just fear of the regime? Cowardice? Dislike of strong women? I'm not sure, but whatever the reason I think Truss is on the right side of the argument here. 

If confidence is enough to be categorised as strong then I can accept that, but confidence alone is insufficient to be an effective or convincing leader. 

Truss has neither the personal gravitas nor the intellectual capacity to be seen as anything other than a variation on the 'Dennis Rodman visits North Korea' circus. 

Add to that the baggage of her disastrous tenure in 10 Downing Street and I fear that she will accomplish nothing of substance while generating potential downside.

[RuamRudy]

1 hour ago, JonnyF said:

The same left wingers criticizing Truss for speaking out against China were fully supportive of Pelosi in that instance. Weird huh?

 

It's almost like they have double standards or something...

Truss is no Pelosi.

[JonnyF]

8 minutes ago, RuamRudy said:

Truss is no Pelosi.

Thankfully.

[Chomper Higgot]

3 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Unless it's Meghan Markle. 

 

Anyway, back on topic. I fail to see why standing up to the Chinese regime draws such vitriol. Is it a communist solidarity thing? Or just fear of the regime? Cowardice? Dislike of strong women? I'm not sure, but whatever the reason I think Truss is on the right side of the argument here. 

She’s not standing up to the Chinese ‘regime’, she’s grandstanding.

 

The solidarity she should be focussed is that of the British Government’s official policy lines.

 

 

 

 

[Chomper Higgot]

3 hours ago, JonnyF said:

The same left wingers criticizing Truss for speaking out against China were fully supportive of Pelosi in that instance. Weird huh?

 

It's almost like they have double standards or something...

Pelosi was acting on behalf of the US Government and adhering to US Government policy on China.

 

Truss is a loose cannon on the deck.

 

 

[scottiejohn]

25 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Pelosi was acting on behalf of the US Government

I think you will find that her visit was a Congressional visit.

Her trip was not officially sanctioned by the Biden Administration, but the President did not publicly dissuade her from going. The Provocative Politics of Nancy Pelosi’s Trip to Taiwan | The New Yorker

[Chomper Higgot]

42 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

I think you will find that her visit was a Congressional visit.

Her trip was not officially sanctioned by the Biden Administration, but the President did not publicly dissuade her from going. The Provocative Politics of Nancy Pelosi’s Trip to Taiwan | The New Yorker

Well it’s one of those separation of powers things, coequal arms of government and all that.

 

Unlike Truss’ private grandstanding.

[onthedarkside]

Off topic deflection post reported/removed along with responses

[RayC]

5 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Where did that off topic swerve come from?

 

 

Don't waste your time trying to understand the incomprehensible

(Note to self: Take your own advice)

[dunroaming]

17 hours ago, nglodnig said:

Well, she's got a great track record - shortest-term PM EVER! 

 

who is trying to revive career, says she will ‘show solidarity’  yeah but upsetting everybody. What a study of incompetence she is.

Why on earth  this woman is given any air time at all is beyond me

[arithai12]

19 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Unless it's Meghan Markle. 

 

Anyway, back on topic. I fail to see why standing up to the Chinese regime draws such vitriol. Is it a communist solidarity thing? Or just fear of the regime? Cowardice? Dislike of strong women? I'm not sure, but whatever the reason I think Truss is on the right side of the argument here. 

Sorry, can you elaborate on how her visit constitutes "standing up to the chinese regime"? What exactly will she have achieved except spending large amounts of public money, a few minutes of her face on the news, and forcing more military tensions? Do you believe that such individual visits by "strong women" (???) make an iota of difference in China's policy towards Taiwan?

 

 

 

[placeholder]

2 hours ago, arithai12 said:

Sorry, can you elaborate on how her visit constitutes "standing up to the chinese regime"? What exactly will she have achieved except spending large amounts of public money, a few minutes of her face on the news, and forcing more military tensions? Do you believe that such individual visits by "strong women" (???) make an iota of difference in China's policy towards Taiwan?

 

 

 

As the government spokesman noted she's going there as a private citizen. As a mere private citizen, is she eligible for government funding of her trip?

[Chomper Higgot]

1 hour ago, placeholder said:

As the government spokesman noted she's going there as a private citizen. As a mere private citizen, is she eligible for government funding of her trip?

Fingers crossed she finds her self seeking ‘consular assistance’ while traveling as a ‘private citizen’.

 

 

[RuamRudy]

2 hours ago, placeholder said:

As the government spokesman noted she's going there as a private citizen. As a mere private citizen, is she eligible for government funding of her trip?

Or is she taking the Johnson approach and renting herself out as a 'keynote speaker' while she is meant to be working on behalf of her constituents?

[300sd]

Idiot

[placeholder]

1 hour ago, 300sd said:

Idiot

Truss may be daft and clueless, but she's not an idiot.