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China's economy would be left in tatters if it took military action against Taiwan, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on Monday.
Speaking on the margins of the Conservative Party's annual conference in Manchester in northern England, Cleverly said the Foreign Office's approach toward China was pragmatic, and that security would trump economics if the two ever became incompatible.
The United Kingdom's top diplomat drew criticism from some corners of the Tory party in August when he became the most senior British official to visit Beijing in five years. Like Washington, London finds itself in the middle of a soft reset with Beijing after previous leaders took a harder line on China.
Cleverly stressed the need to engage with China in order to avoid misunderstanding or miscalculation—the same rationale adopted by the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden.
"Disruption across the Taiwan Strait is everybody's business," Cleverly was quoted as saying at the side event hosted by The Spectator magazine.
Noting the significant amount of trade that passes through the Taiwan Strait, Cleverly said a conflict there would not only damage the global economy, but also would "collapse the Chinese economy and bring a number of other economies with it."
His American counter, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, made a similar case at a talk one year ago, citing seaborne commercial traffic through the strait and Taiwan's supply of high-end semiconductors.
The Chinese government claims Taiwan, which it has never ruled, as its rightful territory and has repeatedly refused to rule out the use of force to bring it into the fold. Taipei rejects Beijing's assertion of sovereignty and has vowed to defend itself at all costs.
China has ramped up military activity around the democratically governed island just as Taipei's Western support has risen. Last month, Chinese air and naval forces centered on an aircraft carrier group carried out days-long drills in waters near Taiwan in the Pacific.
But Cleverly said the world's second-largest economy appeared vulnerable and was showing cracks, affording the U.K. and other nations more leverage than before. He told Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in their recent meeting that Britain and its allies were taking steps to reduce their trade with China, Cleverly said.
The message had a visible impact on Wang and his staff, the foreign secretary said.
"Cleverly is sending the right messages on Taiwan and de-risking from China. But post-Brexit Britain faces a far greater challenge in making its voice heard in Beijing," said Noah Barkin, a senior advisor with the Rhodium Group think tank's China practice.
Barkin told Newsweek that it was "not an easy task" for London to formulate a China policy that was different from those of the United States and the European Union.
China's embassy in London didn't return Newsweek's request for comment before publication.
Update 10/4/23, 02:30 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional comments.
About the writer
Micah McCartney is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers U.S.-China relations, East Asian and Southeast Asian ... Read more