Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Liz Truss says the world needs an “economic NATO” for like-minded countries to band together, trade more freely with each other, and push back against authoritarianism. Truss made the comments at a speech in Taipei on Wednesday.
Truss says international institutions, such as the U.N. Security Council and the World Trade Organization, are crippled by control from authoritarian countries, such as China and Russia. She says an “economic NATO” would allow free nations to push back against Beijing and authoritarianism. She adds the network should be similar to the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls during the Cold War era.
Truss also says Taiwan should join the international trade agreement known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Both Taiwan and China have applied for membership but ascension requires unanimous consent from all current members.
Truss says the U.K. should advocate for fast-tracking Taiwan’s membership and should publicly seek to block China’s membership. She also calls for the international community to assess Taiwan’s lack of representation in international organizations.
Also present at the event was Japan’s former vice minister of defense Yasuhide Nakayama. In remarks given after Truss’ speech, Nakayama says he hopes that Taiwan can become a full member of the United Nations, not just an observer.