February 3, 2023
The foreign and defense ministers of the United Kingdom and Australia held ministerial consultations in the UK on February 2. The UK was represented by Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly and Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace. Australia was represented by Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong and Minister for Defence Richard Marles.
The joint statement from the meeting underscored the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and encouraged the peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues without the threat or use of force or coercion. The ministers reaffirmed their shared opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo. They further reiterated their will to continue deepening relations with Taiwan in various fields. The two sides also committed to working together to support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. At the same time, the ministers agreed to work on bolstering the resilience of Indo-Pacific nations to ensure an Indo-Pacific region that is open, stable, prosperous, and respectful of sovereignty, human rights, and international law. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China (Taiwan) strongly affirms the concern and support voiced by the UK and Australia for peace and stability in the region.
The joint statement from the Australia-UK ministerial consultations is yet another international affirmation of the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. It follows similar statements in January from the US-Japan leaders’ summit and the France-Australia foreign and defence ministerial consultations. This demonstrates that democratic countries have reached a high degree of consensus on the need to preserve cross-strait peace and stability, which are indispensable to ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
The UK and Australia are both important like-minded partners of Taiwan. Building on these existing robust foundations, the government of Taiwan will continue to cooperate closely with the UK, Australia, and other like-minded countries to strengthen democratic resilience, safeguard the rules-based international order, and jointly ensure peace, stability, and prosperity across the Taiwan Strait as well as in the region and the rest of the world.
Related Link
Joint statement from the Australia-UK ministerial consultations