President Lai receives British Office Taipei representative

2025/04/01

President Lai Ching-te said March 28 that Taiwan is committed to expanding exchanges with the U.K. across the board to enhance democratic resilience while jointly advancing Indo-Pacific development and global economic security.
 
Lai made the remarks while meeting with British Office Taipei Representative Ruth Bradley-Jones at the Presidential Office in Taipei City.
 
The president first thanked the U.K. for staunchly supporting Taiwan, citing the joint statements released following the Australia-U.K. ministerial consultations last year and the Group of Seven foreign ministers’ meeting earlier this year that expressed concern for cross-strait peace and stability, as well as a motion passed last November by the U.K. House of Commons asserting that U.N. General Assembly Resolution 2758 makes no mention of Taiwan.
 
According to Lai, Taiwan and the U.K. enjoy close economic and trade ties, as evidenced by the fact that the U.K. is Taiwan’s fourth-largest trading partner in Europe and second-largest source of European investment. The two sides’ industries are complementary, he said, adding that there is great potential for cooperation in areas spanning artificial intelligence, semiconductors, unmanned vehicles, and medium- and low-orbit satellites.
 
The president took the opportunity to urge the U.K. to continue backing Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
 
In response, Bradley-Jones agreed that Taiwan’s Five Trusted Industry Sectors initiative and the U.K.’s Industrial Strategy are complementary and underscored the two governments’ mutual business support through the Enhanced Trade Partnership agreement and annual trade talks. She went on to suggest that the partners expand science and technology collaboration, adding that the U.K. has stepped up its activity in Taiwan by regularly organizing a pavilion at SEMICON Taiwan and funding 18 joint research and development programs.
 
The U.K. has also held Global Cooperation and Training Framework workshops with Taiwan to support the country’s whole-of-society resilience, she said, adding that the people-to-people links and exchanges among the two sides’ academics, civil society and legislators are continuing to grow. The representative reaffirmed that the U.K.’s long-standing policy remains unchanged and anticipated that bilateral cooperation will keep enhancing the prosperity and well-being of the people on both sides. 


Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)