UK summons Chinese ambassador over Taiwan actions

UK summons Chinese ambassador over Taiwan actions. The UK on Wednesday summoned China s ambassador demanding he explain Beijing s “aggressive behaviour” and “escalation” of actions targeted at Taiwan in recent days.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, the favourite to become the UK s next prime minister, said she had called in ambassador Zheng Zeguang to explain Chinese missile launches and incursions into Taiwanese air space.

The military drills followed a visit by US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi to the island last week.

Read more: China scraps cooperation with US over Taiwan spat

“The UK and partners have condemned in the strongest terms China s escalation in the region around Taiwan, as seen through our recent G7 statement,” Truss said in a statement.

“I instructed officials to summon the Chinese ambassador to explain his country’s actions.

“We have seen increasingly aggressive behaviour and rhetoric from Beijing in recent months, which threaten peace and stability in the region.”

Relations between China and the UK have soured in recent years, particularly over London s condemnation of the treatment by Beijing of Muslim Uighurs and pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

China said it was ending cooperation with the United States on key issues including climate change — a move Washington decried as “fundamentally irresponsible” as relations between the two superpowers nosedive over Taiwan.

The damaging rift, which carries significant geostrategic risk, was triggered by Chinese fury over a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory and has vowed to retake — by force if necessary.

It has since Thursday encircled the self-ruled, democratic island with a series of huge military drills that have been roundly condemned by the United States and other Western allies.

And Friday saw China s foreign ministry hit back further against the United States, suspending talks and cooperation on multiple agreements — including on climate change.