Taiwan

Lord Lemos Excerpts

Wednesday 4th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness D’Souza]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what consideration they are giving to the need to take further steps to ensure democracy in Taiwan.

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Lemos) (Lab)]

My Lords, the UK’s long-standing position on Taiwan remains unchanged. The UK values Taiwan as an important partner with which we enjoy growing co-operation on trade and investment. We will continue to support democratic values, media freedom and civil society in Taiwan. As His Majesty’s Government stated in December, we will continue to underline the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo.

[Baroness D’Souza (CB)]

My Lords, the likely tactics, other than invasion, that China will use in its goal of incorporating Taiwan include grey-zone tactics, such as sabotage of infrastructure, cyber attacks to take down electricity grids, disruption of the internet by cutting undersea cables, aid to the opposition and, of course, military intimidation in the South China Sea. Resilience is vital to deterrence. What support are the UK Government providing to help build resilience to counter China’s expanding aggressive actions?

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

My Lords, as I said, our long-standing position has not changed. The UK maintains strong unofficial links with Taiwan in trade, education, and science and innovation. We think those are the ways in which we can continue to help and support Taiwan and its resilience. For example, we conduct annual trade talks and semiconductor and energy dialogues. The most recent of those was in November 2025. We also have frequent ministerial visits. My right honourable friend Douglas Alexander visited Taiwan last year. In his recent visit to China—this goes to the point the noble Baroness made—the Prime Minister continued to advocate for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, emphasising that the UK opposes any unilateral changes in the status quo. He raised those points directly with President Xi.

[Lord Bruce of Bennachie (LD)]

My Lords, Taiwan has built an impressive democracy over the past 20 years and set up its own foundation for democracy along the lines of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, which also works there. However, the reality for Taiwan is that its democracy will survive only as long as it survives and is not incorporated into China. No “one country, two systems” model is now available, given the destruction of that model that has been wreaked upon Hong Kong. What are the Government doing with others to ensure that China is fully deterred from taking any action against Taiwan?

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

As I said, we do not support anyone taking unilateral action in Taiwan. As the noble Lord knows, we work closely with our partners and allies on this. We are aware of Taiwan’s strategic importance to global trade in maritime movement of goods and semiconductors, and therefore not only in relation to democratic values and the points that the noble Lord raises. We are very conscious indeed of the importance of Taiwan and we take that into account in not only our bilateral work with it but our relations with our partners and allies.

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

My Lords, to endorse the two previous questions, China has an appalling record of hostility towards Taiwan, which is a democratic and self-governing nation. Can the Minister please be more specific about what work the UK Government are doing to support Taiwan in the face of those hostile threats from China? Does that include sharing information from the UK’s more recent knowledge about Chinese attempts to undermine our democracy?

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

On the last point, I do not think the noble Lord would expect me to comment on information sharing—he is smiling from a sedentary position, so I think he expected that answer. As the whole House knows, we did a China audit, which formed part of the national security strategy published last year. As a result of the China audit and the national security strategy, we are investing in our intelligence services, updating our state threats legislation and strengthening our responses to transnational repression. We are also introducing a new China fast stream in the FCDO and creating an FCDO global China network, and we have trained over 1,000 civil servants on China policy in the past year. I reassure the noble Lord and the entire House that this is an active area and the relationship with Taiwan is one that we take very seriously and value.

[Lord Faulkner of Worcester (Lab)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as the British Government’s trade envoy to Taiwan, a position I have held since 2016, having been appointed originally by the noble Lord, Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, and reappointed by every Prime Minister since, including the present one. I warmly welcome my noble friend the Minister’s confidence about Taiwan and its relationship with Britain. Can he also please pass back to his colleagues in the Foreign Office a report of the excellent work carried out by the British Office Taipei, particularly by Ruth Bradley-Jones and her team? They are indefatigable. Their work is low key but incredibly effective. I am, incidentally, visiting Taiwan on a trade mission later this month.

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for all his work on Taiwan over many years. I used to share an office with him; it was full of Taiwan memorabilia, so I can attest to his commitment. On a serious point, I entirely endorse his remarks about the work of the office and our people there. Obviously, noble Lords know that this is a sensitive and serious subject, and I need to choose my words with care, but I reassure your Lordships’ House that this is a relationship that we take very seriously. It is very important to us in trade terms, and for the reasons I have already given in relation to strategic concerns about security and semiconductors. We would not want anything to happen to harm it, so we will continue to support the noble Lord in his work as trade envoy and FCDO colleagues in Taiwan.

[Lord Robathan (Con)]

My Lords, is it not the case that Taiwan is very much threatened by China? Could the Minister please tell the House what actions the Government are taking to produce some hardware there that can protect Taiwan in any way?

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

As I said, the Government will always put national security first. We are taking seriously any risks to Taiwan and to the status quo. However, I do not think the noble Lord would expect me to comment specifically on China and its attitudes; that is a matter for the Chinese Government. As I have said, we do not want to see any unilateral change in the current situation.

[Lord Stirrup (CB)]

My Lords, China is deterred from taking military action against Taiwan not by the rules of an international order with which it fundamentally disagrees but by the prospect of the hard power retaliation that it would face in such circumstances. Given that, does this not underscore the importance of the UK’s work to bolster security arrangements in the region, in particular to develop hard power capabilities such as through AUKUS and the Global Combat Air Programme?

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

I entirely agree with those observations from the noble and gallant Lord. That is, as he knows, a priority area for investment and engagement. It is not just the status of Taiwan that we take seriously in that region; it is all the various things, which he knows better than I do, that might threaten maritime routes. We support UNCLOS, as he knows. As far as defence and security are concerned, we are very alive to concerns about that region.

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

Given the Minister’s reply to the noble Baroness and to my noble friend regarding the Government’s assessment of the posture of China, and given the need for Parliament to be fully aware of what the Government believe is the posture of China, why did the Government not publish the China audit?

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

The noble Lord has raised that question before. I reiterate what I have already said and what has been said before: the China audit was completed and its findings included in the national security strategy in the way I set out earlier.

[Lord Bellingham (Con)]

My Lords—

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[Lord Grantchester (Lab)]

My Lords, on the subject of peace through enhancing trade, what steps are the Government taking to enhance the superiority of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry through its accession to the CPTPP? Could the Minister inform the House of the plans that we have?

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

As my noble friend alluded to, we are now very much part of the arrangements around the CPTPP, and there are a lot of discussions about that. On the wider question he raises about the trade in semiconductors, I will say two things that are very important. First, we have excellent relations with Taiwan; we have an annual dialogue on semiconductors and feel in a good place about that. Secondly, I recently answered a Question in your Lordships’ House about critical minerals, in which I noted that we have set up capability within government to monitor the areas we are particularly concerned about, including supply chain resilience. However, for the moment we are not concerned about Taiwan.