Like it or not, the Western world is already in a cold war with China, former PM Liz Truss has reportedly claimed.
Failed UK Prime Minister Liz Truss has reportedly warned that the West is already in a cold war with China, saying that nations in America and Europe now need to choose whether they will appease the Communist state or oppose it.
Truss made the comment during a trip to Taiwan, a de facto independent nation that the Chinese Communist Party nevertheless claims to have legal jurisdiction over.
Truss has long held hawkish views when it comes to the authoritarian nation, taking to task those who believe that friendly relations between it and the Western world can be maintained.
According to a report by The Telegraph, the former PM has now doubled down on that point, saying during her speech on Wednesday that the West is already on a cold war footing with the Communist state whether it wants to admit it or not.
“There are those who say they don’t want another Cold War,” she reportedly said. “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.”
“They have already made a choice about their strategy,” Truss continued. “The only choice we have is whether we appease and accommodate — or we take action to prevent conflict.”
Such a statement is likely to please a number of her Republican Party allies in the United States, as well as those surviving in the right-wing of the Conservative Party, both of which have also opted to push a hawkish line on China in recent years.
By contrast, Truss already appears to have angered China’s ruling Communist party, with a spokesman from the country’s embassy in London denouncing the former Prime Minister’s entire trip to Taiwan as being an act of provocation.
“British politician Liz Truss’s recent visit to Taiwan is a dangerous political show which will do nothing but harm to the UK,” the embassy said.
“This provocative move has caused strong indignation among the Chinese people and will be firmly rejected by people with conscience from all walks of life,” it added.
“We urge the relevant British politician to correct her wrongdoing, stop making political shows with the Taiwan question, and stop conniving at and supporting ‘Taiwan independence’ secessionist forces,” the statement concluded. “Otherwise, she will only further expose herself as a failed politician and get more backlash from the Chinese people.”
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