Tech partnership, security top priorities of new UK envoy to Taiwan

Taipei, Dec. 10 (CNA) As Ruth Bradley-Jones, the United Kingdom's representative to Taiwan, looked back on her first nine months on the job, she was upbeat about the progress her office had made but remained focused on two priorities: promoting technology collaboration and tackling "shared security concerns."

In an interview with CNA, Bradley-Jones, who officially took up the helm at the British Office Taipei (BOT) in February, said her mission as the U.K.'s top envoy is to build a "vibrant and dynamic" relationship with Taiwan.

That mission found expression over the past year in three pillar arrangements signed by the BOT: the Taiwan-UK ETP Digital Trade Arrangement, Taiwan-UK ETP Energy and Net Zero Arrangement, and Taiwan-UK ETP Investment Arrangement.

"Our economic and our tech partnership ... within the context of our vibrant and dynamic relationship with Taiwan, continues to grow and that is really exciting," she said during the interview Tuesday.

Looking forward, Bradley-Jones said continuing to bolster bilateral cooperation in the tech sector is a key focus during her tenure in the office that serves as the U.K.'s de facto embassy in Taiwan.

"We all know Taiwan's tech strengths. What you may not know is the U.K. is the third biggest tech industry in the world, and so I really want to make sure that the U.K. and Taiwan become top-tier tech partners," she said.

Over the past nine months, Bradley-Jones has put considerable emphasis on building R&D exchanges between educational institutions in the U.K. and Taiwan to connect "the U.K. innovation scene with Taiwan's tech manufacturing giants."

Shared security challenges

Another major focus has been to address "shared security concerns" between the two partners, including promoting closer joint efforts to boost cybersecurity, building AI standards, and protecting global supply chains, she said.

Bradley-Jones noted that enhancing social resilience to protect shared democratic values and human freedoms is also something both sides are concerned about and should be working closely together on.

She said that since taking office earlier this year she has seen President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) prioritizing a whole-of-society conversation about Taiwan's resilience and security.

"I really think Taiwan is making rapid progress to build social resilience ... [and in] making sure that people understand Taiwan's situation and some of the risks it faces, be that natural disasters, be that the geopolitical situation," she said.

The U.K. is doing the same, as highlighted in the Strategic Defence Review earlier this year, the envoy said, adding that she is pleased that the UK is learning from Taiwan on that.

On people-to-people exchanges, the BOT head said her job is to promote a better understanding of her home country in Taiwan.

"I feel like Taiwanese are used to looking to Japan and to the U.S. But the U.K. is such a great destination, be it for tourism, for study."

Building deeper engagement

Another area of engagement was strengthened in November, when the U.K. officially became a full partner of the Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF), a mechanism launched by Taipei and Washington in 2015 that allows Taiwan to share its expertise on the world stage.

The GCTF serves as a platform that allows Taiwan to share its expertise on global issues and contribute alongside global partners, given its exclusion from major international organizations due to Chinese pressure.

Japan, Australia, Canada are also full partners of the mechanism.

Asked about the decision, Bradley-Jones told CNA that Taiwan has "so much to offer the world in terms of expertise," yet many avenues and international fora have blocked Taipei off.

"Having a practical way for countries to be connected to Taiwan's expertise in a number of areas, I think, is of real practical importance," she said.

"The U.K. absolutely believes in Taiwan's ability and space to engage with international organizations," she said, reiterating that the U.K. supports Taipei's international participation "as a member where statehood is not required, and as an observer where it is."

In 2026, the U.K. will be co-hosting workshops on a number of resilience-related issues, including one related to cybersecurity.

Past experience in Myanmar

Before taking up the post in Taipei, Bradley-Jones, who has served in the U.K. foreign service for over 20 years, was the deputy head of mission in Myanmar from 2021 to 2022.

The envoy told CNA that Myanmar is her one and only "professional love affair" as she had been posted in Myanmar from 2007 to 2011 before her second stint as deputy ambassador two decades later.

Both stints were shadowed by major crises, including Cyclone Nargis in 2008 that killed 120,000 people overnight, and a coup in 2021.

"It's a very different place from here. It's a country that holds my heart, but is falling apart," she said.

The envoy said that "democratic rights, human freedoms, have been a big part of what we as the U.K. stand for," but her personal experience in Myanmar revealed just "how abuse of those freedoms is so destructive to individual lives."

She also saw, however, "to what extent people are prepared to fight for their rights and their freedoms and for democracy."

According to the BOT, before her posting in Myanmar in 2021, Bradley-Jones was the deputy head of the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's (FCDO) North East Asia and Pacific Department, leading work on the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

Bradley-Jones' other roles in the U.K. government have included policy work on the Iran nuclear negotiation. She received a Most Excellent Order (MBE) of the British Empire in 2023 for her work promoting gender equality.

She took over the post in Taipei from her predecessor, John Dennis, who had served in Taiwan since December 2020.