INTERVIEW/Engaging with Taiwan, China not an either-or matter: U.K. MP

London, Jan. 23 (CNA) The United Kingdom's engagement with Taiwan and China should not be a matter of choosing one side or the other, and maintaining relations with China does not mean it cannot have a fruitful relationship with Taiwan, Sarah Champion, a member of the U.K. parliament, said in a recent interview with CNA.

"I don't think it's an either-or. I don't think that if you have relationships with China that means that you can't have productive relationships with Taiwan," said Champion, co-chair of the British-Taiwanese All Party Parliamentary Group, when asked about Taiwan's role in the U.K.-China relationship.

Champion also emphasized that the relationship between the U.K. and Taiwan should not be restricted by any preconditions proposed by China.

"You (Taiwan and China) are two separate states and one should not be influencing the other," she added.

Champion of the Labor Party is chair of the International Development Committee appointed by the House of Commons and has served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Rotherham since 2012.

She became a member of the British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group in 2015 and took over as the co-chair of the group in September last year. She has visited Taiwan several times.

Taiwan: a valuable partner

In the interview with CNA, Champion noted that Taiwan is a hugely valuable partner to the U.K., saying that it is really important democracies stick together, particularly at a time when democracies in the last 20 years have dropped from about 50 percent of the world's population to around 33 of the world's population.

"Taiwan is one of those few and leading democracies that we really want to maintain close relationships with," she said, adding that the knowledge and skills Taiwan has is also very valuable for the U.K.

She particularly mentioned Taiwan's "amazing response" to COVID-19, adding that it is painful Taiwan is still blocked from the World Health Organization and unable to share those skills and experience.

There is lots of opportunities for collaborative research projects between the U.K. and Taiwan that would strengthen both their skills and economies, Champion went on, with a particular focus on the areas of AI and sustainable energy.

China audit

Although the Labor Party pledged "a full audit" of its relations with China during the 2024 summer general election in which it swept to a landslide victory, the new Labor government has pared back its China audit. This shift has led some to question whether the much-touted "audit" was merely a formality.

Champion said she was not sure how many central government ministries and agencies have been included in the audit other than the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).

Champion also said she was not sure whether the audit results will be presented in the form of a public document but added that parliamentarians who are friends of Taiwan have definitely made submissions to the China audit, including herself.

She noted she hopes Catherine West, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Indo-Pacific, who Champion said has been a friend of Taiwan for a long time and knows the region well, would read the China audit report with that knowledge and friendship towards Taiwan.

Champion revealed that Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves recently visited China, and pro-Taiwan parliamentarians put pressure on her to make sure that she raised human rights and the sovereignty of Taiwan as one of the issues.

It is reported that some of the results of the review of Sino-British relations are expected to be released no earlier than this spring.

Her priority in Parliament

There are so many conflicts, breaches of human rights, and challenges to democracy around the world right now, that unless there is a crisis in the Taiwan Strait, the U.K. really does not have the capacity to focus on it, Champion indicated.

What she and other pro-Taiwan MPs are trying to do is to make sure Taiwan is kept on the agenda. Rather than dealing with the issue when Taiwan is in a crisis, they will strive to address it as an ongoing thing, she said.

She indicated her priority at the moment is to make as many parliamentarians as possible understand what a great democracy Taiwan is, but also the threats Taiwan faces, particularly from the People's Republic of China.

"I don't think that most parliamentarians are aware of what's going on," she said.

She noted there is a need to raise awareness around this, "because, otherwise, I fear what we saw play out very rapidly in Hong Kong, the potential for that to happen in Taiwan, is ever increasing," she said, "I don't want to see that. I will do everything I can to prevent that from happening."

"Selfishly the most powerful way that I can do that is to tell them the economic impact if there is conflict in the Taiwan Strait, and the catastrophic impact it will have on our economy."

However, that requires parliament to be on the front foot as tensions between the PRC and Taiwan increase. "We need to be doing all that we can to intervene," she said.