New Southbound Policy Portal

 

Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles met with United Kingdom Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs David Lammy and Secretary of State for Defence John Healey for the Australia-UK Ministerial Consultations (AUKMIN) on July 25 in Sydney, Australia. 

Following the meeting, a joint statement was released underscoring the importance of cross-strait peace and stability, opposing unilateral changes to the cross-strait status quo, and expressing concern at China’s recent military exercises. The two sides also offered support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations and reiterated that they would continue to strengthen relations with Taiwan in the areas of the economy, trade, science, technology, and culture. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung welcomes and affirms this statement.

The United Kingdom and Australia are among Taiwan’s like-minded partners and share the universal values of democracy, freedom, and the rule of law. The joint statement confirms that maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the Indo-Pacific region is a global consensus. Taiwan is an indispensable member of the international community and will continue to work with like-minded democracies to defend the rules-based international order and strengthen democracy, peace, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.