Select committee: Defence Committee
Recommendation 1
Eleventh Report - UK Defence and the Indo-Pacific
Published 24 Oct 2023
Paragraph 19
Addressed to Ministry of Defence
Defence Committee UK Defence and the Indo-Pacific All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The Chinese Government’s wider goal to achieve regional and global dominance— and the increasingly aggressive means by which it is pursuing this—highlight the long-term and strategic threat that China poses to the rules-based international order. It appears that China intends to confront Taiwan, whether by direct military action or ‘grey zone’ attacks, in the coming years. Any conflict in Taiwan will have formidable consequences across the globe and risks the international rules-based order. The Government and the UK Armed Forces must ensure that they have plans for the UK’s response—co-ordinated with allies and partners—to a range of actions by China against Taiwan. The Government should set out these plans to the Committee in a classified private briefing.
From: Defence Committee, Eleventh Report - UK Defence and the Indo-Pacific (HC 183), paragraph 19, 24 October 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 11 January 2024.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government states that it has achieved the ambition set for Defence in the 2021 Integrated Review and challenges the Committee's recommendation for a published Indo-Pacific strategy, while agreeing with or noting other recommendations.
- On China, the Government "disagrees that there is a need to carry out an assessment of how to label China", saying that summing it up in one word would be "impossible, impractical and unwise". It will provide a private briefing on Defence's crisis planning process.
- On AUKUS, it "partially rejects" the request for a plan on costs and submarine numbers, saying decisions on numbers and the build contract "will be made in due course". It notes the recommendation on skills and points to a Nuclear Skills Taskforce announced on 1 August 2023.
- It agrees with the recommendations on India and on ASEAN and the Pacific Islands, and supports not seeking Quad membership "at this time". It states it has "committed to the return of the UK Carrier Strike Group to the Indo-Pacific in 2025".
- On the Committee's rejection that the tilt has been achieved, the Government "notes the Committee's criticism" and states that "Defence has met the ambitions set out in the Integrated Review 2021".