Bob Stewart: From the point of view of the security of Taiwan and of the South China sea, the Government are obviously worried about that, as they sent a fleet there and an aircraft carrier through, but we still haven’t got the—am I allowed to use the word?—balls to actually put our aircraft carrier west-about Taiwan rather than east-about. The aircraft carrier went east-about to avoid offending the Chinese, because east-about is in the Taiwan straits. We as a Parliament should demonstrate solidarity with Taiwan.
The Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Lucy Frazer: “I beg to move, that the Committee has considered the draft Double Taxation Relief and International Tax Enforcement (Taiwan) Order 2021. The draft order will give effect to a protocol that was agreed in August to amend the existing double taxation agreement, or DTA, in relation to Taiwan.
Michael Reilly said there was an “institutional state of mind” in the FCDO but there is nothing to stop the UK doing more with Taiwan. It was noted that Taiwan and the TRO in the UK could push a lot harder for deeper ties than they currently do.