Former Taiwan president Tsai to make sensitive visit to Britain this week

12/5/2025 12:36

Former Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will visit Britain this week at the invitation of British lawmakers, a trip that comes as London is trying to improve ties with Beijing and China ramps up efforts to diplomatically isolate the island.



Britain, like most countries, has no official diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but the economic and political exchanges between the two sides have increased as Beijing ratchets up military threats to force Taipei to accept its sovereignty claim over the democratic island.



Tsai, who stepped down in May last year, has become a symbol of Taiwan's defiance against China's military threats. Tsai's officie said, she is currently in Lithuania and will travel to Denmark and then Britain later this week.



The office said in a statement,Tsai was invited by "friends in Britain's parliament" in a trip that is designed to deepen friendship between Taiwan and Britain, adding Tsai, who has a doctorate from the London School of Economics, will meet with unspecified British politicians.