Image reproduced from 中央社

The UK government officially released its "National Security Strategy 2025" on the 24th, which emphasizes the ongoing threat to international order posed by Russia's aggressive actions. It firmly commits to maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait and clearly opposes China's unilateral changes to the status quo. Additionally, it reiterates the necessity of increasing the defense budget to counter traditional threats such as Chinese espionage activities.

The newly released national security strategy highlights that the world is currently facing multiple significant challenges, including geopolitical conflicts, cybersecurity issues, and technological competition. It points out that the existence of these problems exacerbates competition among major powers and increases the risk of nuclear conflict, impacting international order. Notably, Russia and China, along with their allies, are exerting influence in areas such as space, the Arctic, rare resources, and the cyber domain through agent tactics, cyberattacks, misinformation campaigns, and infrastructure sabotage to instigate divisions within Western societies and undermine democratic orders.

In response, the British government is determined to follow NATO's lead by enhancing its defense budget to 5% of GDP while continuing to strengthen its military and invest in advanced technologies and deepen cooperation with allies. Particularly in the Indo-Pacific region, the UK's security strategy includes continuing the AUKUS trilateral security partnership with Australia and the United States, and collaboration on a sixth-generation Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) with Italy and Japan, aiming to deploy military forces to conduct joint exercises and projects, thus strengthening regional peace and stability.

Furthermore, the strategy clearly expresses a commitment to upholding shared democratic values and enhancing diplomatic and economic ties with Taiwan. The UK is making calls for China to resolve disputes through peaceful dialogue without naming them directly, aiming to reduce tensions in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait. On the same day, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly addressed the House of Commons regarding the results of the UK-China relationship review and its policy towards China, declaring a consistent stance to deepen bilateral trade, education, and innovation exchanges with Taiwan.

In response to the UK's statements, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its welcome, emphasizing that the UK's position reaffirms that maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is a high consensus within the international community, and that Taiwan plays an indispensable role in ensuring security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and globally.