A planned meeting between Truss & US President Biden before the Queen’s funeral service has been canceled, Downing Street has said. A full bilateral meeting between the Prime Minister and Mr. Biden would as an alternative take place at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday. It is believed the talks after the national mourning would allow for more wide-ranging deliberations.
Ms. Truss met her compliments from New Zealand & Australia on Saturday. The prime minister held relaxed talks with Jacinda Ardern & Australian premier Anthony Albanese in Kent. Ms. Truss will see Irish prime minister Micheál Martin, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, & Polish President Andrzej Duda at Downing Street. Although she met Mr. Biden, next week’s UN meeting in New York will be Ms. Truss’s first as United Kingdom prime minister. Just like you could be the first person you know to win it big at Grande Vegas casino bonuses!
The Memorial
Monday’s memorial will be one of the main diplomatic events of recent years, with some heads of state & foreign notables expected to attend. It is providing Ms. Truss with a chance to meet foreign counterparts less than 2 weeks after taking office. But Downing Street had harassed that talks this weekend would not be official bilateral meetings because of the authorized 10-day mourning period resulting in the death of the Queen.
It would not be delivering summaries of the deliberations as would usually happen after the Prime Minister meets with foreign leaders. As a previous foreign secretary, Liz Truss is not precisely new to rubbing shoulders with all the world leaders. She will see a lot of them this weekend. Meeting them as prime ministers is different & the first meeting with the US president is always the chief for a new PM.
When Liz Truss & Joe Biden do sit down, it will be carefully scrutinized for any signs of health, or, the special relationship. Holding it after the authorized mourning period means it can be more focused on business.
There is a share of the business to tackle. Joe Biden is no fan of Truss’s approach to the North Ireland Protocol, for a start. The US has recommended it is not conducive to the not-so-smaller matter of a trade deal. All this will have to delay though until advanced in the week.
In the development of her talks with Truss, Ardern said the death of the Queen would be the focus of chat, and they were also likely to deliberate Ukraine & the UK’s free trade agreement with New Zealand. It was supposed the meeting between Ms. Truss & Mr. Albanese fixated on trade, after the signing of a deal between the UK and Australia in December.
Ms. Truss held a phone call with the President of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed Zayed al Nahyan, on Saturday in which he stated his pities on the death of the Queen.
The assembly with the Irish Republic’s prime minister comes at a time of stressed relations with the EU over Brexit checks in North Ireland. The UK is declining to apply some of the checks it hired up to in the Brexit withdrawal deal, warning a series of lawsuits from the EU.
Truss met Joe Biden in Glasgow the previous November when he attended the COP 26 climate conference. Mr. Martin has spoken concern about legislation Truss introduced as foreign secretary allowing the UK to alter the legal commitments it contracted up to in the exit treaty in the year 2019. Ms. Truss is expected to meet European Directive president Ursula von Leyen for talks at the United Nations meeting in New York next week.
The state funeral service on Monday is expected to be attended by lots of foreign dignitaries, counting politicians and royalty. Syria, Afghanistan, Russia & Belarus have not been invited at the same time as Iran, Northern Korea & Nicaragua have been asked to send a senior diplomat. China’s President Jinping is on the visitor list for the funeral ceremony but is not supposed likely to attend.
A Chinese foreign ministry lecturer said on Friday that no choice had been made on whether they would be transferring a delegation, though press reports have recommended China’s vice-president will attend. Ms. Truss is predicted to have a phone call with the Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Salman on Saturday evening.
The facto ruler’s invite to the Queen’s funeral has sparked complaints from human rights crusaders. A declassified CIA statement concluded that he had authorized the killing and division of Saudi journalist Khashoggi – allegations denied by the prince.
Bidens Response
US President Biden said in a meeting broadcast on Sunday that US forces would protect Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack, his most clear statement so far on the issue.
Asked in a CBS interview whether US forces would defend the ruled island claimed by China, he responded: “Yes, if in fact, there was an unparalleled attack.” Asked to explain if he meant that dissimilar in Ukraine US forces, would defend Taiwan on the occasion of a Chinese invasion, Biden replied Yes.
The interview was the latest time that Biden has seemed to go beyond standing stated US policy on Taiwan, but his declaration was more clear than preceding ones about committing US troops to protect the island. Asked to remark, a White House spokesperson said United States policy towards Taiwan had not changed. The President has said this earlier, including in Tokyo previous this year. He made clear then that our Taiwan policy has not changed and that remains true, the representative said.
The CBS meeting with Biden was held last week. The president was in Britain for Queen’s funeral on Monday. The US has long stuck to a rule of not making clear whether it would reply militarily to a bout on Taiwan. In May, Biden was requested if he was eager to get involved systematically to defend Taiwan and replied that was the commitment we made. In the interview, Biden repeated that the United States did not care about Taiwanese independence & remained devoted to a One-China policy in which Washington formally recognizes Beijing.
