UK
UK political watchdog says Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ‘inadvertently’ broke ethics rules
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was chided by Parliament’s standards guardian on Thursday for failing to declare his wife’s financial interest in a childcare firm that stood to benefit from government policy.
Standards Commissioner Daniel Greenberg said Sunak broke the code of conduct for government ministers, but said the mistake was “inadvertent” and that the prime minister should not be sanctioned for the error.
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Greenberg opened an investigation in April over Sunak’s failure to declare when questioned by a committee of lawmakers that his wife. Akshata Murthy, held shares in the company Koru Kids, which had been selected to receive government support for childcare firms.
Greenberg said Murthy’s shareholding “was a relevant interest that should have been declared.” But he said the failure stemmed from confusion about the rules rather than an intent to deceive.
“I confirm that the matter is now closed,” he said.
Sunak apologized for the mistake.
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The finding follows a string of ethics breaches by members of Britain’s Conservative government.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson was driven from office in mid-2022 when his own Cabinet turned on him after a string of scandals over his judgment and finances.
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Sunak vowed to restore order and integrity to government after three years of turmoil under Johnson and briefly serving successor Liz Truss, who quit within weeks after her policies rocked the U.K. economy. But Sunak, a former investment banker, has faced questions about his wealth and the financial arrangements of his wife, the daughter of an Indian billionaire.
Last year, it was revealed that Murthy didn’t pay U.K. tax on her overseas income, including 11.5 million pounds ($15 million) a year in dividends from Infosys, the Indian IT company founded by her father.
Bangladesh an increasingly important strategic partner in Indo-Pacific region: UK
The Bangladesh-UK relationship is transitioning to a deeper economic, migration and security partnership, while helping to protect Bangladesh’s development gains, said the British foreign ministry.
The UK’s development offer in Bangladesh aligns with the UK government’s Strategy for International Development (IDS) and government of Bangladesh’s strategies and plans.
"Bangladesh is an increasingly important strategic partner for the UK in the Indo-Pacific region and it is a key player in upholding the Rules-Based International System (RBIS)," said the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in a policy paper on UK–Bangladesh development partnership.
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The Strategy for International Development (IDS) places development at the heart of the UK’s foreign policy.
It sets out a new approach to development, anchored in patient, long-term partnerships tailored to the needs of the countries.
This approach goes beyond aid and brings the combined power of the UK’s global economic, scientific, security and diplomatic strengths to development partnerships.
The Country Development Partnership Summary details how the IDS and IR23 will be put into practice with Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is a Lower-Middle Income (L-MIC) country with aspirations to become an Upper Middle Income Country (U-MIC) by 2031.
Bangladesh-UK relations transformed to strategic partnership: British envoy
The United Kingdom and Bangladesh have a long-standing partnership built on shared economic, security, development and people to people ties.
The UK was one of the first countries to recognise Bangladesh and the countries celebrated 50 years of partnership in 2021.
Bangladesh has made significant progress on development and it will graduate from Least Developed Country status in 2026.
It was the world’s second-poorest country at independence and had a Gross National Income (GNI) per person of $120 in 1973. It is now the world’s 33rd largest economy with GNI per person of $2,570.
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Annual GDP growth has averaged about 6% since 2011, except in 2020 because of COVID-19. Growth has been fuelled by the expansion of garment exports, overseas remittances, external support, and domestic consumption.
Bangladesh has a strong record on poverty reduction and improvement in a range of social indicators.
Despite this progress, Bangladesh faces a range of development challenges as it strives to meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, said the British Foreign Ministry.
Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to the impact of extreme weather events.
The Global Climate Risk Index highlights that Bangladesh was the 7th most climate vulnerable country in the world in 2019.
It is one of the world’s most densely populated countries with more than one third of the population living in urban areas.
Read more: Dhaka requests Tokyo to extend preferential treatment, concessions to Bangladesh beyond LDC graduation
Decades of high growth and impressive human development gains in Bangladesh are set against governance and democracy challenges, said the policy paper.
To overcome these development challenges, the UK said, a number of key economic and policy reforms have been identified by both the government of Bangladesh and development partners.
The government of Bangladesh has outlined rapid and transformational shifts in agriculture, trade, education, healthcare, transportation, communication and in conducting business in the 2021 to 2041 Perspective Plan.
It also stressed the need for institutional and governance improvements to drive economic development.
The UK is increasingly providing expertise and knowledge to support Bangladesh’s development.
"We will continue to prioritise areas where analysis shows this is key to systemic change, whether economic - promoting trade and investment, political - supporting peaceful politics or social - women’s rights," said the UK government.
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A deeper and broader economic partnership will help Bangladesh access new sources of affordable finance for sustainable growth and build resilience against the impact of climate change, it said.
“We will use technical and diplomatic expertise to support long term economic reforms and boost investment,” it added.
The UK’s new Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) will boost trade and British Investment International (BII) will expand its impact investment portfolio.
The UK has six strategic goals in Bangladesh.
These goals bring together the strategic priorities and international objectives of the UK and Bangladesh to support progress on the SDGs.
They also align with the UK’s IR23 and the IDS.
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Goal 1: Foreign policy and security
UK will develop and maintain a strong and productive network of contacts in Bangladesh to support a free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific region, that upholds the RBIS. UK will also support Bangladesh to remain a stable, reliable, and human rights compliant partner on UK national security interests and migration.
Goal 2: Democratic institutions and norms
UK will work with government, civil society, youth, political parties, and international partners to deliver this goal. UK will support Bangladesh institutions become more open, democratic, and inclusive, with greater transparency and accountability, respect for human rights, gender equality and ability to resolve conflict.
Goal 3: Women and girls and global health
UK will support government’s efforts to help ensure Bangladesh has the systems, policies, and practices in place that educates and empowers its people, especially women and girls, to protect their rights, fulfil their potential, and live healthy lives. UK will provide targeted technical assistance, combined with diplomatic lobbying, global, regional, and centrally managed programmes (CMP) and UK expertise to support this goal.
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Goal 4: Economic reform, trade and investment
UK will support Bangladesh to deliver key reforms to help it reach upper middle-income status whilst building a closer economic and investment partnership. UK will deepen bilateral trade and investment partnership through better market access for British firms and the DCTS.
Goal 5: Climate change and environment
UK will ensure the partnership with Bangladesh delivers on climate change and environment commitments and contributes to the government’s efforts for a more climate resilient, less-carbon-intensive, and cleaner Bangladesh. UK will use targeted ODA programming, political engagement, centrally and regionally managed programmes, and UK technical expertise to support people to better adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Goal 6: Rohingya and disaster preparedness
UK will use its UN Security Council membership to continue to put pressure on Myanmar to resolve the crisis and call for accountability. UK will also deliver large scale life-saving humanitarian support to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and advocate for a more sustainable response to the protracted crisis. UK will also support Bangladesh to prepare and respond effectively to natural disasters across the country.
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UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace says he'll quit government and stand down as a lawmaker
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Sunday he plans to resign at the next Cabinet reshuffle after four years in the job.
Wallace has served as defense secretary under three prime ministers and played a key role in the U.K.'s response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
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He told The Sunday Times his departure was due to the strain his job had put on his family. He also said he would stand down as a lawmaker at the next general election.
Wallace is the longest continuously serving minister in government. He was security minister under former Prime Minister Theresa May, before being promoted to defense secretary by her successor Boris Johnson.
MPs’ roundtable seeks UK-Bangladesh joint efforts ahead of COP28
Wallace drew criticism last week when he suggested that Ukraine should show "gratitude" for the West's military support. He made the remark at the NATO summit in Lithuania after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed frustration about when his country could join the military alliance.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak distanced himself from Wallace's comments, saying Zelenskyy had "expressed his gratitude for what we've done on a number of occasions."
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British High Commission in Dhaka celebrates official birthday of King Charles III, his coronation
British High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Sarah Cooke, has said the UK and Bangladesh enjoy a strong partnership based on their long-shared history, deep people-to-people ties and as members of the Commonwealth.
“I am delighted to host this reception to celebrate the Official Birthday of His Majesty King Charles III and the Coronation of Their Majesties The King and The Queen," she said while speaking at a reception on Wednesday evening.
The British High Commission celebrated the official birthday of His Majesty King Charles III and the Coronation of the King and Queen.
LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Md. Tajul Islam joined the reception as the guest of honour.
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“With thanks to our partners, we are also making a donation today to support women’s empowerment and climate justice through youth engagement in Bangladesh. His Majesty is a strong supporter of youth, community, sustainability, and diversity and with this contribution we pay tribute to him," said the British High Commissioner.
A wide range of dignitaries from the government of Bangladesh; Bangladesh parliament; the diplomatic corps and representatives from the fields of business, trade, social development, academia, arts, culture, media and sports joined the celebration.
In honour of the King, the themes of the event were “youth, community, diversity, and sustainability”.
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A significant portion of the sponsorship raised for the event will be used to support the empowerment of women in leadership and youth promotion of climate advocacy across Bangladesh, through YouthNet for Climate Justice and WAVE Foundation for Women in Leadership.
The King’s Birthday Party is celebrated by British embassies and high commissions around the world. This year, the King turns 75 on November 14.
His Majesty the King is Head of the Commonwealth, which is a family of 56 countries working together for prosperity, democracy and peace.
Groundbreaking: Scientists create first human synthetic model embryos
In a groundbreaking development, scientists have generated synthetic human embryos using stem cells that sidestep the need for eggs or sperm, The Guardian reports.
These model embryos, which mirror those in the earliest stages of human development, may offer a significant insight into the effects of genetic anomalies and the biological factors that contribute to recurrent miscarriage, according to scientists.
Since lab-grown entities are illegal in the UK and most other nations, the development also poses significant ethical and legal concerns.
The structures contain cells that would ordinarily develop into the placenta, yolk sac, and embryo itself but lack a beating heart and the beginnings of a brain, reports the Guardian.
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Prof Magdalena Żernicka-Goetz, of the University of Cambridge and the California Institute of Technology, described the work in a plenary address on Wednesday at the International Society for Stem Cell Research’s annual meeting in Boston.
“We can create human embryo-like models by the reprogramming of [embryonic stem] cells,” she told the meeting.
According to The Guardian, the use of synthetic embryos in clinical trials is not anticipated to happen anytime soon. It is currently unknown if these structures have the ability to continue maturing past the initial stages of development, making their implantation into a patient's womb illegal.
The goal of the research is to help scientists better comprehend the so-called "black box" period of development, which lasts for only 14 days in accordance with regulatory restrictions. They then pick up the development's course at a far later stage by examining donated embryos and pregnancy scans.
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“The idea is that if you really model normal human embryonic development using stem cells, you can gain an awful lot of information about how we begin development, what can go wrong, without having to use early embryos for research,” Robin Lovell-Badge, the head of stem cell biology and developmental genetics at the Francis Crick Institute in London, told The Guardian.
Previously, Żernicka-Goetz’s team and a rival group at the Weizmann Institute in Israel showed that stem cells from mice could be encouraged to self-assemble into early embryo-like structures with an intestinal tract, the beginnings of a brain and a beating heart.
Since then, a race has been under way to translate this work into human models, and several teams have been able to replicate the very earliest stages of development.
The current research from the Cambridge-Caltech lab has not yet been fully described in a scholarly article. However, addressing at the conference, Ernicka-Goetz recounted growing the embryos to a level barely past the point at which a natural embryo would develop after 14 days.
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The model structures, which were each developed from a single embryonic stem cell, have begun to undergo gastrulation, a developmental stage in which the embryo changes from being a continuous sheet of cells to generating discrete cell lines and establishing the basic axis of the body, the Guardian reports, citing Ernicka-Goetz.
The model demonstrated the presence of primordial cells, which are the precursor cells of egg and sperm, although the embryo at this stage does not yet have a beating heart, a functioning gut, or the beginnings of a brain.
The development highlights how rapidly the science in this field has outpaced the law, and scientists in the UK and elsewhere are already moving to draw up voluntary guidelines to govern work on synthetic embryos. “If the whole intention is that these models are very much like normal embryos, then in a way they should be treated the same,” Lovell-Badge told the Guardian. “Currently in legislation they’re not. People are worried about this.”
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Biden to host outgoing NATO secretary-general Stoltenberg as competition to replace him heats up
President Joe Biden is welcoming outgoing NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg to the White House for talks on Monday as the competition to find his successor to lead the military alliance heats up.
Stoltenberg, who has led the NATO since 2014 and has had his tenure extended three times, said earlier this year he would move on when his current time expires at the end of September. The jockeying to replace him is intensifying as leaders of the 31-member military alliance are set to meet next month for their annual summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Last week, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made the case for U.K. Defense Minister Ben Wallace directly to Biden. The U.S. president also met with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, another potential contender.
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Asked about the NATO job at a news conference with Sunak by his side, Biden called Wallace "very qualified" but noted that the conversation among NATO leaders to find a "consensus" pick to replace Stoltenberg was ongoing. Biden's opinion carries enormous weight as the U.S. spends more than any other member in the alliance on defense.
Frederiksen sought to play down her candidacy after she met with Biden last week. She declined to say whether she discussed the coming vacancy with him, telling reporters that she did not want to go "further in these speculations about NATO." The alliance has never had a female secretary-general.
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A British government official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said ahead of Sunak's visit that the British leader wants to be sure the next secretary general "carries on Stoltenberg's good work of modernization but also understands the importance of defense spending at this critical time."
Denmark has lagged behind NATO's target for members to spend 2% of gross domestic product on military budgets by 2030. But the centrist government announced late last month that it would look to invest some 143 billion kroner ($20.6 billion) in the country's defense over the next decade, citing a "serious threat picture."
Biden and Stoltenberg are also expected to discuss Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and efforts to persuade fellow NATO member Turkey to back off blocking Sweden from joining the military alliance.
Sweden and Finland, both historically unaligned militarily, jointly sought NATO membership after being rattled by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Turkey initially blocked both countries from joining the alliance before agreeing to membership for Finland while continuing to object to Sweden.
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In public comments since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was reelected last month, Biden has spoken with a measure of certainty that Sweden will soon join the alliance.
"It will happen. I promise you," Biden said of Sweden's NAT0 ascension earlier this month.
Stoltenberg and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken have both expressed hope that Sweden will be brought into the NATO fold by the time allied leaders meet in Lithuania on July 11-12.
Lawmakers say UK’s planned law to deport Channel migrants breaches rights obligations
A committee of British lawmakers said Sunday that the U.K. will break its international human rights commitments if it goes through with government plans to detain and deport people who cross the English Channel in small boats.
Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights said the Illegal Migration Bill "breaches a number of the U.K.'s international human rights obligations and risks breaching others."
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Scottish National Party lawmaker Joanna Cherry, who chairs the committee, said the law would leave most refugees and victims of modern slavery with no way of seeking asylum in Britain.
"By treating victims of modern slavery as 'illegal migrants' subject to detention and removal, this bill would breach our legal obligations to such victims and would risk increasing trafficking of vulnerable people," she said.
The committee urged the government to make sweeping amendments to the bill, including exempting trafficking victims and curbing the government's power to detain people indefinitely. The government, which had pledged to "stop the boats," is unlikely to heed the recommendations.
The legislation bars asylum claims by anyone who reaches the U.K. by unauthorized means, and compels officials to detain and then deport refugees and migrants "to their home country or a safe third country," such as Rwanda. Once deported, they would be banned from ever re-entering the U.K.
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Britain's Conservative government says the law will deter tens of thousands of people from making perilous journeys across the Channel and break the business model of the criminal gangs behind the trips. Critics, including the United Nations' refugee agency, have described the legislation as unethical and unworkable.
The parliamentary committee questioned whether the law would act as a deterrent and said it "could lead to people taking other, potentially more dangerous, routes into the UK."
The bill has been approved by the House of Commons, where the governing Conservatives have a majority, but is facing opposition in Parliament's upper chamber, the House of Lords. The Lords can amend the legislation but not block it.
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More than 45,000 people, including many fleeing countries such as Afghanistan, Iran and Syria, arrived in Britain in small boats last year, up from 8,500 in 2020.
The government has housed many of those awaiting asylum decisions in hotels, which officials say costs taxpayers millions of pounds (dollars) a day. Authorities have said they plan to place new arrivals in disused military camps and a barge docked on the southern English coast.
UK to host global AI Summit to assess 'most significant risks'
The United Kingdom will hold a global artificial intelligence (AI) summit this autumn to assess the technology's "most significant risks."
A number of alarming warnings have been issued concerning the possibly existential threat that AI poses to humans, reports BBC.
Regulators throughout the world are trying to create new laws to mitigate that danger.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stated that he wants the United Kingdom to lead efforts to guarantee that the advantages of artificial intelligence are "harnessed for the good of humanity."
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"AI has an incredible potential to transform our lives for the better, but we need to make sure it is developed and used in a way that is safe and secure," he said.
The summit's attendees are currently unknown, but the UK government stated that it will "bring together key countries, leading tech companies, and researchers to agree on safety measures to evaluate and monitor the most significant risks from AI."
Speaking to reporters in Washington, DC, where Sunak is meeting with President Biden on the matter, the prime minister stated that the UK was the "natural place" to lead the discourse on AI.
Downing Street pointed to the prime minister's recent talks with the CEOs of key AI businesses as proof of this. It also mentioned the 50,000 individuals engaged in the sector, which is worth £3.7 billion to the UK.
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'Too ambitious'
Some have questioned the UK's ability to lead in this sector.
According to Yasmin Afina, a research fellow at Chatham House's Digital Society Initiative, the UK "could realistically be too ambitious."
She stated that the EU and US had "stark differences in governance and regulatory approaches" that the UK would struggle to reconcile, as well as a number of existing global efforts, such as the UN's Global Digital Compact, that had "stronger foundational bases already."
Afina went on to say that the UK was home to none of the world's most innovative AI startups.
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"Instead of trying to play a role that would be too ambitious for the UK and risks alienating it, the UK should perhaps focus on promoting responsible behaviour in the research, development and deployment of these technologies," she told the BBC.
Deep unease
Since the chatbot ChatGPT first came on the scene in November, astounding people with its ability to answer complicated queries in a human-sounding manner, interest in AI has skyrocketed.
It can do so because of the enormous processing capacity of AI systems, which has sparked widespread concern, the report said.
Geoffrey Hinton and Prof Yoshua Bengio, two of the three so-called godfathers of AI, have been among those to issue concerns about how the technology they helped design has a high potential for disaster.
Read more: China warns of artificial intelligence risks, calls for beefed-up national security measures
These concerns have fueled calls for effective AI legislation, while many uncertainties remain about what that would include and how it would be implemented.
Regulatory race
The European Union is drafting an Artificial Intelligence Act, but even in the best-case scenario, it will take two and a half years to become law.
Last month, EU technology head Margrethe Vestager said it would be "way too late" and that the EU was working on a voluntary code for the industry with the US, which they anticipated would be completed within weeks.
China has also taken the lead in developing AI rules, including ideas requiring corporations to notify users anytime an AI algorithm is employed, the report added.
Read more: ChatGPT's chief to testify before US Congress as concerns grow about artificial intelligence's risks
The UK government published their opinions in a White Paper in March, which was criticized for having "significant gaps."
However, Marc Warner, a member of the government's AI Council, has suggested a stricter approach, telling the BBC that some of the most powerful kinds of AI may eventually have to be outlawed.
According to Matt O'Shaughnessy, visiting fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, there was nothing the UK could do about the fact that others were leading the charge on AI legislation - but it could still play an essential role.
"The EU and China are both large markets that have proposed consequential regulatory schemes for AI - without either of those factors, the UK will struggle to be as influential," he said.
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But he added the UK was an "academic and commercial hub", with institutions that were "well-known for their work on responsible AI".
"Those all make it a serious player in the global discussion about AI," he told the BBC.
Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss warns of China threats during Taiwan visit
Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss warned of the economic and political threats to the West posed by China during a visit Wednesday to Beijing's democratic rival Taiwan.
Truss is the first former British prime minister since Margaret Thatcher in the 1990s to visit the self-governing island republic that China claims as its own territory, to be conquered by force if necessary.
Still a sitting member of the House of Commons, Truss follows a growing list of elected representatives and former officials from the U.S., EU nations and elsewhere who have visited Taiwan to show their defiance of China’s threats and attempts to cut off the island and its high-tech economy from the international community.
“There are those who say they don’t want another Cold War. But this is not a choice we are in a position to make. Because China has already embarked on a self-reliance drive, whether we want to decouple from their economy or not," Truss said in an address to the Prospect Foundation at a hotel in the Taiwanese capital, Taipei.
“China is growing its navy at an alarming rate and is undertaking the biggest military build-up in peacetime history,” she said.
"They have already formed alliances with other nations that want to see the free world in decline. They have already made a choice about their strategy. The only choice we have is whether we appease and accommodate — or we take action to prevent conflict,” Truss said.
Elsewhere, Truss praised her successor, Rishi Sunak, for describing China as “the biggest long-term threat to Britain” in comments last summer and for urging the closure of Chinese government-run cultural centers known as Confucius Institutes, which have been criticized as outlets for Communist Party propaganda. Such services could instead be provided by people from Taiwan and Hong Kong who come to the United Kingdom of their own volition.
In Beijing, spokesperson for the Cabinet's Taiwan Affairs Office Mao Xiaoguang accused Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party of "spending the tax money of the Taiwanese people to bribe some anti-China politicians who have stepped down from office to stage a farce of seeking external support for independence in Taiwan."
Ma also renewed China's military threats against Taiwan, a day after the Chinese Defense Ministry condemned U.S. military assistance to the island.
“If they continue to challenge and force us, we will have to take decisive measures to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Ma told reporters at a biweekly news conference. “No one should underestimate our strong determination, unwavering will and strong ability.”
Next year is seen by some as a crucial period for tense relations between the sides, with U.S. and Taiwanese voters going to the polls. Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen has served the maximum two terms and Vice President Lai Ching-te, a strong independence supporter, will be running for the DPP.
Meanwhile, the main opposition Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, on Wednesday nominated local politician Hou Yu-ih as its candidate in the January election. Hou rose to prominence as a top police official but has relatively little experience dealing with China and Taiwan's international partners.
Taiwan will also elect a new legislature, which is currently controlled by the ruling party.
China's relations with Britain and most other Western democracies have been in steep decline in recent years, largely as a result of disputes over human rights, trade technology and China's aggressive moves toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea.
Beijing's relations with London have been especially bitter over China's sweeping crackdown on free speech, democracy and other civil liberties in Hong Kong, a former British colony that was promised it would retain its freedoms after the handover to Chinese rule in 1997.
China has said a key previous bilateral agreement on Hong Kong no longer applies and has rejected British expressions of concern as interference in China's domestic political affairs. China has also been angered by a joint Australian-U.S.-British agreement known as AUKUS that would provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines in part to counter the perceived rising threat from China.
Truss, who served an ill-fated seven weeks as prime minister last year, also said China could not be trusted to follow through on its commitments in areas from trade to protection of the environment.
And she praised Taiwan as “an enduring rebuke to totalitarianism” whose fate was a "core interest" to Europe.
“A blockade or invasion of Taiwan would undermine freedom and democracy in Europe. Just as a Russian victory in Ukraine would undermine freedom and democracy in the Pacific," Truss said.
"We in the United Kingdom and the free world must do all we can to back you,” she said.
Truss' remarks also stood in stark contrast to published comments from French President Emmanuel Macron last month that elicited doubts about whether Macron’s views were in line with other European countries on Taiwan’s status.
“The question we need to answer, as Europeans, is the following: Is it in our interest to accelerate (a crisis) on Taiwan? No,” Macron was quoted as saying in the interview. “The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese overreaction.”
Shortly afterward, Macron denied any change on France's views toward Taiwan, saying, “We are for the status quo, and this policy is constant.”
PM starts addressing media on her recent three-nation visit
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has started addressing a press conference on the outcome of her recent three-nation visit to Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom from April 25 to May 09, 2023.
The press conference began at 4:05pm on Monday at her official residence Ganabhaban here.
On April 25, Hasina left Dhaka for Tokyo on a four-day official visit to Japan on the first leg of her three-nation visit at the invitation of her Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.
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During her stay in Tokyo, the Bangladesh PM met Emperor of Japan Naruhito, held summit meeting with her Japanese counterpart Kishida Fumio.
She and her Japanese counterpart witnessed the exchange of eight instruments, mostly memorandums of cooperation signed between Dhaka and Tokyo to boost cooperation in the sectors of agriculture, metro-rail, industrial up-gradation, ship-recycling, customs matters, intellectual property, defense, ICT and cyber security.
She also attended an investment summit and a community reception as well as handed over the “Friends of Liberation War Honour” to two Japanese nationals for their special contribution to the Liberation War of Bangladesh.
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Besides, Hasina held meetings separately with Foreign Minister of Japan Yoshimasa Hayashi, President of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Dr Tanaka Akihiko, Chairman of Japan-Bangladesh Committee for Commercial & Economic Cooperation (JBCCEC) Fumiya Kokubu, Chairman and CEO of Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Ishiguro Norihiko and President of Japan-Bangladesh Parliamentary Friendship League (JBPFL) Taro Aso.
On April 28, the PM left Tokyo for Washington DC on a six-day official visit to the USA on the second leg of her three-nation tour in a bid to attend the celebration of the 50 years of partnership between the World Bank and Bangladesh.
Also Read: PM Hasina off to Tokyo on first leg of a two-week official visit to Japan, USA and UK
She attended a seminar titled "Reflection on 50 years of Bangladesh-World Bank Partnership" organized at the headquarters of the World Bank in Washington DC, USA on May 1.
In Washington DC, Sheikh Hasina also had meetings separately with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and President and CEO of US Chamber of Commerce Suzanne P. Clark.
Besides, she attended a high-level executive roundtable with the US business delegation and a community reception.
On May 04, the premier left Washington DC for London on a five-day official visit to the UK to attend the coronation of UK's King Charles III, hosted by Buckingham Palace on May 06.
Read More: PM attends coronation of King Charles III
In London, Hasina had interaction with King Charles III, and held a bilateral meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Also Read: PM Hasina reaches Tokyo to begin four-day official visit to Japan
She also attended the Commonwealth Leaders Event, the King's reception for heads of states, governments and overseas representatives at Buckingham Palace in advance of the coronation of the King and the Queen Consort, and a community reception.
She had a meeting with and Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema there.
Also Read: PM returns home after 15-day foreign visit
Besides, PM Hasina had interactions with Presidents of Egypt and Rwanda, Prime Ministers of Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Gambia, Namibia and Uganda in the coronation programme of King Charles III.
Sheikh Hasina returned home on May 09.