The former president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-Wen, was invited by British lawmakers to visit London this week. While Britain has no formal diplomatic ties to Taiwan due to its disputed status as an independent state, Britain has been strengthening its economic and political relations with Taiwan, including an official trade partnership made between the two states in 2023. The visit by Tsai is intended to further strengthen these ties. China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan, has stated that Tsai’s party is deceiving the international community, and that countries that want to have relations with Taiwan should do so through China.
Taiwan has governed itself since 1949, but China does not recognize it as a sovereign state. China’s claim over Taiwan is motivated by both strategic and economic interests. Taiwan is an island in the South China Sea near China’s Southeastern coast, making it a critical location for China to have control over to ensure its security and project power. Additionally, Taiwan is one of the top manufacturers of semiconductors, an industry that is incredibly profitable due to the high demand for tech manufacturing. However, the biggest perceived threat that Taiwan poses to China is its democracy. Being a democratic state aligns Taiwan more so with Western states, such as Britain and the U.S, despite its strong economic and historical ties to China.
Britain and the U.S must maintain a balance by supporting Taiwan, due to its strategic value in the containment of China in the South China Sea and Western Pacific, while not fully supporting Taiwanese sovereignty to avoid provoking China. If China were provoked to attack Taiwan, the U.S would be obligated by a defense agreement to use force to protect the island. This would result in a conflict that has a high risk of escalation. As far as the visit by Tsai to Britain, this could damage relations between China and Britain as it could be viewed as disrespect of China’s perceived sovereignty over Taiwan.
The reason that an attack by China would not constitute a violation of Taiwan’s sovereignty is that—despite functioning as a self-governing state for over 70 years—Taiwan is not recognized as a sovereign state under international law. The UN requires that nine member states, including all five permanent members, recognize a state as a sovereign state before it is admitted into the UN. Both China and the U.S are considered permanent members, and neither has recognized Taiwan as independent—China due to its claim over Taiwan, and the U.S to avoid conflict with China. Although Taiwan is not officially recognized, some states still deal with Taiwan as an independent entity through diplomacy and treaties.