Members of the UK’s Conservative Party have chosen Liz Truss to be the country’s prime minister. Truss beat out her rival candidate, Rishi Sunak, by around 21,000 votes to become the United Kingdom’s fourth leader in just six years.
The former foreign secretary replaces Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who stood down as leader after being mixed up in a string of scandals.
Like Johnson, Truss has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine during the country’s resistance to a Russian invasion. She is also seen as a hardliner on China and ally of Taiwan. In a TV debate in May, Truss said Taiwan “should be able to defend itself” in the face of “Chinese aggression.” She says the UK should not become overdependent on China nor turn a blind eye to human rights abuses in Xinjiang province.
But Truss’ first task as prime minister will be to address the UK’s mounting cost-of-living crisis. Soaring energy prices have already tripled people’s energy bills, and they’re expected to rise even higher. Inflation passed 10% in July. And the Bank of England expects the country to fall into a recession by the end of the year, lasting until the end of 2023.
So far, Taiwan’s foreign ministry has not commented on Liz Truss’ election as prime minister.