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Former Tory leader Liz Truss will warn her successor Rishi Sunak that Britain has been too soft towards China, as she urges the UK government and its allies to “stand up” to the communist regime.
The ex-prime minister, ousted by her own party after only six weeks in Downing Street, is due to speak about foreign policy at an event in Japan.
Ms Truss is also expected to call on G7 leaders to agree urgently to a sanctions package to be used against Beijing in the event of further military escalation around Taiwan.
“Some people say standing up to this regime is a hopeless task, that somehow the rise of a totalitarian China is inevitable,” she will tell the conference organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC).
“But I reject this fatalism. And the free world has a significant role to play in whether or not that happens – and how it happens,” Ms Truss is expected to tell the international campaign group.
Attacking former PM David Cameron for arranging a state visit for president Xi Jinping, Ms Truss is set to warn that the Tory government has been naive in its approach.
“It wasn’t that long ago that the UK heralded a ‘golden era’ of UK-China relations. We rolled out the red carpet for the Chinese president, with all the pomp and ceremony that came with a state visit.”
She will add: “I should know – I attended a banquet in his honour. Looking back, I think this sent the wrong message.”
It will be Ms Truss’s first public speech since her turbulent stint as prime minister ended in disgrace last October. She is expected to put forward six policy recommendations.
Accepting Taiwan into international organisations and establishing a stronger Pacific defence alliance are also expected to be on Ms Truss’s wish list.
On Taiwan, the ex-foreign secretary is expected to say: “We must learn from the past. We must ensure that Taiwan is able to defend itself. And we must work together across the free world to do this.”
Taiwan has its own democratically elected government, but the island is also claimed by the Chinese government. Taiwan is not formally recognised as a sovereign state by the UK and US, but both have called for the dispute to be resolved peacefully.
There has been growing international concern over escalating tensions, with China recently having held large-scale military exercises seen by some as preparation for a blockade or invasion.
Implementing a tougher stance on China was widely anticipated under Ms Truss’s leadership, but with her time ending so quickly amid economic and political turmoil, she did not deliver on an expectation to re-designate China as a “threat”.
Her re-entry into the debate comes as her successor, Mr Sunak, is facing calls from some of his own backbenchers to take a tougher stance on China.
Earlier this month, one ally of Ms Truss said her speech will be “hawkish”, and added: “She’s expected to address Sunak’s decision to brand China a strategic competitor rather than a threat.”
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith is an IPAC member. Earlier this week he criticised the government after it emerged officials were prepared to meet Erkin Tuniyaz, the governor of Xinjiang province, accused of genocide. It is now understood the trip has been cancelled.
