MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th May, 2023) Former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss said on Tuesday that she will be paying an official visit to Taiwan next week.
"Taiwan is a beacon of freedom and democracy. I'm looking forward to showing solidarity with the Taiwanese people in person in the face of increasingly aggressive behaviour and rhetoric from the regime in Beijing," Truss was quoted as saying by Daily Mail.
Truss will deliver a speech and meet with high-ranking officials during her visit to the island, the report said.
The situation around Taiwan has recently escalated once again after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy earlier in April, with Beijing starting massive three-day military exercises near the island in what it called a "warning" for Taiwanese separatists and foreign powers.
Taiwan has been governed independently from mainland China since 1949. Beijing views the island as its province, while Taiwan � a territory with its own elected government � maintains that it is an autonomous country but stops short of declaring independence. Beijing opposes any official contacts of foreign states with Taipei and considers Chinese sovereignty over the island indisputable.
