Senior government officials have warned that the UK is unprepared for the “catastrophic” economic consequences of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
A conflict in the South China Sea could disrupt supply chains, cause shortages of goods, and result in harsh Western sanctions.
“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 trading difficulties,” a senior Whitehall official said.
“I’m not sure we’ve fully grasped the implications of facing some of the world’s best chess players.”
Foreign Affairs Select Committee Chairwoman Alicia Kearns warned that any decision to impose sanctions on China would affect every family in the country.
“The impact of the war in Ukraine on people in Britain would be nothing compared to any conflict over Taiwan,” she said.
Taiwan produces 65% of the world’s semiconductors and nearly 90% of the most advanced chips used in telecommunications and computers.
Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith stated that Britain has “never been so economically dependent on one country” that is not an ally “as we are on China right now.”