Liz Truss makes political comeback with speech in Japan hitting out at China

16 February 2023 , 22:30

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Liz Truss is due to address a Tokyo audience in the early hours (Image: Spectator TV)

Disaster Prime Minister Liz Truss returns to frontline politics tomorrow with a speech in Japan as she piles pressure on Rishi Sunak over China.

The 49-day Premier, who quit in October after crashing the economy, is expected to highlight the threat to Taiwan from Beijing in her address early tomorrow morning.

Speaking to the Inter Parliamentary Alliance on China think tank in Tokyo, she is expected to say: “Some people say standing up to this regime is a hopeless task, that somehow the rise of a totalitarian China is inevitable.

“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.”

It will be Ms Truss's first public speech since she became the UK’s shortest serving PM.

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Chinese Premier Xi Jinping (Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock)

The former Foreign Secretary is expected to make six policy recommendations, including calling for the G7 to draw up sanctions to slap on Beijing in the event of further military escalation around Taiwan, which China has vowed to retake by 2050 - by force if necessary.

She is also expected to recommend establishing an economic equivalent of NATO for democratic nations should they need to respond to economic blackmail - and to deepen economic ties with Taiwan.

UK relations with China have been plunged into the deep freeze in recent years - a stark contrast from October 2015 when then PM David Cameron took Chinese Premier Xi Jinping to the Tory leader’s local pub for a pint and fish and chips.

In a jibe at her former boss, Ms Truss is due to say: "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.

"I should know - I attended a banquet in his honour. Looking back, I think this sent the wrong message."

On Taiwan, she 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."

The pair enjoyed lunch in October 2015 (Getty Images)

Earlier this month, one ally of Ms Truss said her speech would be "hawkish", adding: "She's expected to address Sunak's decision to brand China a strategic competitor rather than a threat."

In November, Mr Sunak said the "golden era" of UK-Chinese relations was over but described the nation as a "systemic challenge" rather than a threat.

Ms Truss's intervention will pile pressure on Mr Sunak to take a firmer line at a time when the former PM's allies are also pushing for the party to reconsider her tax-cutting agenda - abandoned by her successor.

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