TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The prime ministers of the U.K. and Sweden reiterated the need for peace in the Taiwan Strait in a joint statement issued on Monday (June 19).
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson met U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in London to discuss a number of topics, including European and Indo-Pacific security and the importance of increasing cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners.
“We reaffirm the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” the statement said. The leaders also highlighted China’s human rights violations in Xinjiang and Tibet and “the continued erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy, rights, and freedom.”
However, the prime ministers expressed their willingness to cooperate with China “where it is consistent with our national interests and security” in maintaining the rules-based international order and addressing global challenges such as biological diversity and climate change.
Both leaders have been vocal about their support for Taiwan within the past year.
In May, Kristersson warned against unilateral changes to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait in his speech at the Stockholm China Forum.
The escalation of tensions in the Taiwan Strait “affects not only the people of Taiwan and the security of partners in the region but also Europe,” Kristersson said. “Any crisis as a result of an attempt to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait using force would have very far-reaching consequences,” he added.
Last November, Sunak said providing arms to Taiwan was not out of the question, as the U.K reviewed its foreign, defense, and security policies. “We stand ready to support Taiwan, as we do in standing up to Chinese aggression,” Sunak said at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.
