LONDON (Reuters) – Britain said on Monday it was concerned by China’s military exercises around Taiwan and said they increased tensions and risked “dangerous escalation” in the Taiwan Strait.
“We do not support any unilateral attempts to change the status quo … We call for restraint and the avoidance of any further actions that may undermine peace and stability,” the government’s foreign office said in a statement.
China’s military vowed to take further action against Taiwan if needed after staging a day of war games on Monday, drawing condemnation from the Taiwanese and U.S. governments.
Earlier in the day British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson reiterated Britain’s support for the use of constructive dialogue rather than military activity to solve the issue.
“The UK’s longstanding position is that this issue needs to be settled peacefully by people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, through constructive dialogue and not through military activity or action and our position has not changed on that,” the spokesperson told reporters.
(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill and Muvija M, writing by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Sachin Ravikumar and Sandra Maler)
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