Robert Besser
16 Mar 2023, 23:04 GMT+10
LONDON, England: Reflecting its increased willingness to support Taiwan, Britain approved a sharp increase in exports of submarine parts and technology to Taiwan as it upgrades its naval forces.
The value of licenses granted by the British government to companies for the export of submarine-related components and technology to Taiwan totaled a record $201.29 million during the first nine months of 2022, according to UK government export licensing data.
Beijing considers Taiwan part of China, known as its One-China policy, and strongly objects to perceived foreign interference with the island, believing it to be support for Taiwan's desire to be recognized as its own country.
When presented with the figures by Reuters, China's foreign ministry said in a statement, "If this is true, it is a serious violation of the One-China principle, undermines China's sovereignty and security interests, and undermines peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait."
"China is highly concerned about this and firmly opposes it," said the written statement, which urged Britain to "refrain from providing military support to the Taiwan authorities."
Britain does not recognize Taiwan and has no formal diplomatic relations with the island, but it maintains economic and trade ties and there is a de facto British embassy in Taipei.
A British government spokesperson said in a statement that the UK has a long record of "granting licenses for exports of controlled goods to Taiwan, on a case-by-case basis, where those applications are consistent with the rules that regulate the exports of arms and dual-use products."
The data was compiled from the Export Control Organisation, which is responsible for export licensing and sits within the UK Department for International Trade.
Meanwhile, the British government has announced a boost to overall defense spending as it unveiled an update to its defense, security and foreign policy priorities, setting out how it plans to "tackle new threats" from China and Russia.
Get a daily dose of Florida Statesman news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Florida Statesman.
More InformationMOSCOW, Russia: A new campaign has begun across Russia to attract badly needed recruits to replenish its troop numbers for ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy has said that lawmakers will move forward on legislation aimed at ...
CROWNPOINT, New Mexico: Navajo Technical University, located on the largest Native American reservation in the US, has become the first ...
WEST READING, Pennsylvania: An explosion occurred at a chocolate factory in Pennsylvania, killing seven people and seeing ten staff members ...
OTTAWA, Canada: US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have announced a plan to close a loophole ...
UVLADE, Texas: Texas police stopped a Florida-bound freight train this week and discovered two migrants had died in a freight ...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: In a legal filing, Twitter announced that parts of its source code - the fundamental ...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: Bloomberg News has reported that New Jersey-based Valley National Bancorp is bidding to purchase Silicon ...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks lipped on Tuesday as bond yields rose in the aftermath of the easing ...
DUBLIN, Ireland: US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly has said it will build a $1bn medicine manufacturing site in Limerick. Lily ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: The US National Transportation Safety Board has said that after an automated cockpit warning that switched off a ...
BEIJING, California: As the world's second-largest economy is still struggling to fully recover from the long-term effects of COVID-19, most ...