According to Politico, the British foreign secretary’s speech echoes a message issued by the UK PM security conference in Germany in February…reports Asian Lite News
Underlining the importance of the Indo-Pacific region, British foreign secretary Liz Truss has said that the UK and its partner countries need to pre-empt threats in the region to ensure that democracies like Taiwan are able to defend themselves.
“I mean that NATO must have a global outlook, ready to tackle global threats,” Truss said in a speech on UK’s foreign policy on Wednesday night.
“We need to pre-empt threats in the Indo-Pacific, working with our allies like Japan and Australia to ensure the Pacific is protected. And we must ensure that democracies like Taiwan are able to defend themselves,” she added.
She said the Boris Johnson government “are correcting a generation of underinvestment.”
“That’s why the Prime Minister has announced the biggest investment in our Armed Forces since the Cold War. We recognised Russia as the most acute threat in our Integrated Review, adopting the same vigilance as NATO’s Eastern Allies,” Truss said.
According to Politico, the British foreign secretary’s speech echoes a message issued by the UK PM security conference in Germany in February.
Truss’ remarks come as NATO members are discussing the alliance’s new “strategic concept,” which outlines the bloc’s mission. This is due to be agreed upon at the next summit in Madrid later this year.
This summit will come in the backdrop of longing discussion among the NATO members on security threats posed by China in the Indo-Pacific.
‘Russia-Ukraine war could last 10 years’
russ has said that the Russia-Ukraine war could last as long as 10 years. Speaking at a foreign policy event dinner on Wednesday, she warned the West, that if Russian President Vladimir Putin succeeds “there will be untold further misery across Europe and terrible consequences across the globe”. Ms Truss indicated that the war in Ukraine could be a long drawn out affair and that Europe “must be prepared for the long haul”.
Government officials in the UK are worried that Putin will launch attacks on the countries of Georgia and Moldova if he is allowed to keep Ukrainian territory. Liz truss in her speech called Putin a “desperate rogue operator” whose aggression should be met with resistance. She added that Great Britain and its allies should “keep going further and faster to push Russia out of the whole of Ukraine”.
Lizz Truss was speaking at an event right after several civilian funerals in Ukraine, including one for a three-month-old girl. Ms Truss argued that the Ukraine crisis must be used as a catalyst to completely overhaul the way the West looks and approaches international security. For the UK, this involves building strategic alliances around the world and to use economic power to deter aggressors, she said, adding that the G7 countries, who account for more than 50 per cent of global net wealth must act as an “economic NATO” and defend collective prosperity.
The EU has imposed a wide array of sanctions on Russia, but still continues to be reliant on Russia for energy purposes.