 | |
 Taiwan |  United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic mission | |
| Taipei Representative Office in the U.K. | British Office Taipei |
| Envoy | |
| Vincent Chin-Hsiang Yao | Ruth Bradley-Jones |
Taiwan–United Kingdom relations refers tobilateral relations betweenTaiwan (officially the Republic of China) and theUnited Kingdom (officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). Due to theOne China policy, the United Kingdom'sdiplomatic recognition with theGovernment of the Republic of China currently inactive and all diplomatic relations between the two countries take place on an unofficial basis. Taiwan maintains theTaipei Representative Office in the U.K. inLondon with a branch office inEdinburgh, while the United Kingdom maintains theBritish Office inTaipei.
TheEast India Company andZheng Jing, ruler of theKingdom of Tungning had an agreement on trade.[1]
In 1861, a British Consulate opened onFort Santo Domingo inTamsui. When the Japanese took control of Taiwan in 1895, Taiwan was divided into two halves for consular services.[2] Joseph Henry Longford was appointed Consul at Tainan on 4 February 1896, and then to Nagasaki on 28 December 1896. Dr. Hsieh Pao, appointed on 4 June 1948, was the last ROC ambassador to the UK.[3]
After the defeat of the Nationalist forces inmainland China during theChinese Civil War and the retreat of theKuomintang government to Taiwan, the United Kingdom broke off diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (ROC) and recognised thePeople's Republic of China (PRC) from 6 January 1950. The United Kingdom however maintained a Consulate inTamsui,Taipei County until 13 March 1972.
In September 1962, Taiwan opened itsrepresentative office inLondon under the name of the Free Chinese Centre which was later renamed theTaipei Representative Office in the U.K. The United Kingdom opened itsrepresentative office in 1993 under the name of the British Trade and Cultural Office which was later renamed theBritish Office in 2015.[4]
Both the ROC and the United Kingdom werePermanent members of the UN Security Council until 1971 when theUN switched recognition to the People's Republic of China.
Margaret Thatcher after leaving office visited Taiwan in 1992 and again in 1996.[5]
After the1999 Jiji earthquake, which was the second-deadliest earthquake in Taiwan's history, the UK dispatched a disaster rescue team to help search for trapped survivors and condolences were offered to the victims byElizabeth II.[6]
The United Kingdom supports Taiwan's participation in international organisations where statehood is not a prerequisite, including lobbying for Taiwan's participation in theWorld Health Organization.[7] Taiwan has been referred to as a country by several UK Members of Parliament.[8][9]
In 2020, Taiwan donated medical masks to the United Kingdom to help fight theCOVID-19 pandemic. Donated masks were transferred to theNHS for distribution. The masks were among 7 million donated to European countries.[10]
On 22 October 2020, theMinistry of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan (MOFA) brokered a deal with the UK to get 100 UK students to study at local Taiwanese universities. The students will be on scholarships and they will be learning Mandarin. The deal is part of PresidentTsai Ing-wen's vision to turn Taiwan into a bilingual country by 2030.[11]
In 2022, a delegation of British parliamentarians led byAlicia Kearns visited Taiwan. The visit prompted protests by the Chinese embassy in London.[12] Former prime ministerLiz Truss visited Taiwan in May 2023.[5] In August 2023, theForeign Affairs Select Committee referred to Taiwan as an "independent country."[13]
In May 2025, former presidentTsai Ing-wen visited London as part of her second European tour since leaving office in May 2024. She was received by the British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group of theUK Parliament and made a speech calling for more collaboration between the two countries and stressing the importance of maintaining peace and stability in theTaiwan Strait.[14]
In 2023, bilateral trade betweenUnited Kingdom andTaiwan totaled more than $8 billion, with the United Kingdom exporting around $2.47 billion in goods to Taiwan and importing roughly $5.61 billion from Taiwan.[15] Over the last decades the volume of bilateral trade has increased.[16]
UK's primary exports to Taiwan includedhard liquor ($653M), gas turbines ($380M), and cars ($206M).[17] Conversely, Taiwan mainly exported broadcasting equipment ($1.04B),integrated circuits ($624M), and office machine parts ($438M) to the UK.[15][18]
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