SINGAPORE (TVBS News) – U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly announced Thursday (Sept. 29) the United Kingdom’s “tilt” toward the Indo-Pacific, including further cooperation on economic issues, security matters, and “shared values.”
“It is permanent,” the foreign secretary said at the Milken Institute Asia Summit, citing the country’s effort to join a massive trade deal in the region where the UK has trade relationships worth US$250 billion.
“The UK is part of many networks, NATO, Commonwealth, G7, G20, but we are looking to build on those pre-existing networks to improve our partnerships and our relationship with the Indo Pacific,” he added.
The United Kingdom is in the process of joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP.
The trade pact, which currently includes seven Asian-Pacific countries and four in the Americas, could help diversify its trade partnerships, particularly since the country departed from the European Union.
Cleverly said any discussion of the Indo-Pacific region had to include China, acknowledging that the country is a “driver of growth” that has successfully lifted millions of its citizens from poverty.
“But the lesson I take from watching China is that when China departs from global rules and norms when it aligns itself with countries like Russia, its standing in the world suffers,” Cleverly continued.
The foreign secretary further pointed to “our commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity and freedom from economic coercion” and a shared belief in the “value of democracy and open markets.”
“Challenges cannot be solved by any country or region alone,” he continued. “We can either see a world divided, or we can seek to explore those things that bind us together.”
