The UK Foreign Office (FCDO) asked for a visit by the former Taiwanese president to be postponed so as not to anger China ahead of a trip by David Lammy, the Guardian has learned.
Lammy is due to travel to China next week for high-level meetings in his first trip to the country as foreign secretary.
The British-Taiwanese all-party parliamentary group (APPG) had been in talks to host Tsai Ing-wen, the former president of Taiwan, in parliament this month. But the plans for a visit were postponed after the Foreign Office indicated it could scupper Lammy’s imminent trip to China, three sources told the Guardian.
“We got a note from the FCDO via the Taiwanese representative to the UK,” said one person who had been involved in the discussions to host Tsai. “It said: ‘Please can you defer this for a while because the foreign secretary is about to make a “goodwill visit” to China and this would absolutely put the kibosh on it.’”
The revelation is embarrassing for the new Labour government, which has sought to improve relations with Beijing after they deteriorated under the Conservatives. Ministers are looking at restarting high-level economic dialogue with China and Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, is drawing up plans to travel to the country next year.
The plans for a visit by Tsai have been postponed until the spring. While parliament does not need the government’s permission to organise it, the APPG was hoping Whitehall would facilitate the trip, including by providing security. Parliamentary authorities had also been involved in the discussions.
Frances D’Souza, a crossbench peer who is a member of the APPG and attended the inauguration of the new Taiwanese president, Lai Ching-te, last spring, said: “We very much hope to host former President Tsai Ing-wen in parliament in the near future. While we understand the political sensitivities, parliament is a democratic forum open to many different voices and views.”
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, the Labour chair of the defence select committee, said Taiwan was an “important and valued partner for the UK, and we should do all we can to strengthen ties”, adding: “I hope the government will make it clear to former President Tsai, whom I met while on a parliamentary delegation visit to Taiwan, that she is indeed very welcome here.”
Tsai is visiting several European countries this month in her first international tour since leaving office. She is due in Prague and Brussels in the next week and is also expected to go to France, according to reports.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “Ministerial travel will be confirmed in the usual way. We do not comment on speculation.” The Taipei representative office in the UK did not respond to a request for comment.
The UK does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but has a longstanding unofficial relationship and a history of visits.
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A delegation of Labour parliamentarians led by the peer Sonny Leong travelled to Taiwan and met Tsai last April, shortly before she stepped down as president. The visit was strongly condemned by China’s embassy in London, which accused the parliamentarians of “serious interference in China’s internal affairs”.
China views Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually come under Beijing’s control, and there are fears it will eventually try to annex the island by force.
Taiwan, which has never been ruled by the People’s Republic of China, sees itself as distinct and has its own constitution and democratically elected leaders, and has grown increasingly opposed to China’s claims of sovereignty over it. In the presidential election last January voters elected Lai, who has pledged to uphold Taiwan’s self-governing status.
In their approach to China, Labour ministers have argued that they want to collaborate with Beijing on areas including trade and climate change while remaining clear-eyed on the security threat and human rights concerns.
In its manifesto, Labour pledged to conduct a Whitehall audit of the UK-China relationship, which is under way. In the past Lammy has also committed to taking steps to recognise China’s treatment of its Uyghur minority as genocide.