US upgrades Taiwan with newer Patriot missiles

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A senior Tory who predicted the Russian invasion of Ukraine has now warned that China will try to take over Taiwan by force. The comment comes as senior Government officials warn of “catastrophic” consequences for the UK economy if the annexation is carried through.

Some of the most senior Government officials think an invasion of the island country in the South China Sea would be disastrous for the UK economy.

They warn it would break supply chains and result in shortages of vital goods, including medical supplies and crucial electrical components used in mobile phones and British weapon systems.

The warnings follow a recent provocation by The People’s Liberation Army of China which sent 71 warplanes over Taiwan in a practice “strike drill”.

MP Tobias Ellwood, a former Government Minister at the Ministry of Defence and current chair of the Defence Select Committee, said on Twitter: “A year ago I predicted Russia would invade Ukraine with huge consequences for the UK and the West.

“On the current trajectory, I predict China will try to take Taiwan by force in the next couple of years- with far greater repercussions for the UK and trigger a new era of global insecurity.”

If president Xi of China led an invasion of Taiwan, Britain would likely impose tough sanctions on China, Whitehall officials reportedly told The Times.

They warned that British companies, many of which import crucial items from China and Taiwan, would be massively affected by trading difficulty.

“If you scale up to any sort of worsening relationship with China there isn’t a single organisation whose supply chains will not be significantly to catastrophically affected where we’re talking about sanctions and difficulties in trading,” one senior Whitehall official told the publication.

“I’m not sure we’ve really understood a future in which we are up against some of the greatest chess players in the world.”

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Taiwan is one of the UK’s largest trading partners, which collaborates with the country on technology supply chains.

The Asian island is responsible for producing over half the world’s semiconductors – electrical chips that play a crucial role in lots of items including Apple smartphones and high-performance computers, including for the defence industry.

Were China to blockade the country, this supply of semiconductors could become severely disrupted

The UK also depends heavily on China, which is a concern for Whitehall. Last year, Britain imported a total of £63.6billion worth of goods from China.

One senior figure told The Times that companies need to “think ahead” about China’s role in their supply chains.

They added that the country’s experience of Covid showed how easily its supply chains could be affected.

During Covid, hospitals were often starved of critical medical supplies including PPE, vaccines and chemicals due to problems with the supply chain.

In recent months, the UK has already made a few steps to become less dependent on foreign companies for semiconductor chips.

The Government recently forced a Chinese-owned company to divest from one of the UK’s largest semiconductor factories, Newport Wafer Fab.

Nexperia Holding BV purchased an 86 percent stake in Newport last year but has been forced to retract its investment because of national security concerns.

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