Ex-UK Conservative leader urges democracies to back Taiwan against China

Taipei, Aug. 27 (CNA) Former U.K. Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith on Tuesday urged democracies to stand with Taiwan against growing threats from China.

Speaking at a Taipei event of a cross-party international lawmakers alliance he co-chairs, Smith said that as they were gathering in Taiwan, "only a short distance away, the authoritarian regime of the Chinese Communist Party plots and plans the demise of Taiwan, your independence."

"Compared with Beijing, Taiwan is a 'vibrant democracy with its own government, its own institutions, and people who freely choose their government and their destiny' with 'open, transparent and very hard-forged elections," he said.

The Conservative Party leader from 2001 to 2003 said, however, "too many Western governments in the pursuit of trade now seem prepared to turn a blind eye to the brutal behavior of China." He called it "a modern form of appeasement."

"China has one objective to take back Taiwan and we should have one objective: To stop them doing it whenever," he said.

"When Beijing threatens Taiwan, it threatens far more than the territory of Taiwan. It threatens the principles that free peoples anywhere have the right to choose their own destiny," he warned.

"That is why Taiwan matters, not only to Asia, but to the whole world," he said, because "Taiwan is on the front line of the global struggle, dictatorship and democracy, and your island is right there on the front line, that is why we must defend it."

Duncan Smith delivered the address Tuesday at a gala in Taipei hosted by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC). Founded in 2020, the cross-party group brings together more than 240 lawmakers from 27 countries to focus on China-related trade, security and human rights.

Speaking at the same event, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) thanked IPAC members for traveling to Taiwan to show "steadfast support" for its people.

"Your presence here sends a powerful message of solidarity among democracies and freedom-loving people around the world."

Hsiao said that in recent years, IPAC has played an important role in countering China's influence and supporting Taiwan's democracy, with its members "consistently speaking out with clarity and determination on the challenges posed by authoritarian regimes."

"Taiwan stands at the front line of democracy. As a vital hub in the global supply chain, we fully understand our responsibility and will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with our international partners to safeguard the values that we hold dear," Hsiao said.