UK Parliament Explores Societal Resilience, Rarely Invites Taiwan's Representative to the UK to Testify
The UK Parliament's National Security Strategy Committee is launching an inquiry into 'societal resilience' and has taken the rare step of inviting Taiwan's Representative to the UK, Yao Jinxian, to testify on Taiwan's defense experience.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 18, 2026 at 09:27
- 🔍 Collected: April 18, 2026 at 09:31 (4 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 18, 2026 at 21:26 (11h 54m after Collected)
Central News Agency Message
(Central News Agency reporter Chen Yunyu, London, 17th) The UK Parliament's Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy has launched a new inquiry on the theme of "societal resilience" and is scheduled to hold its first hearing on the 20th. Representative to the UK Yao Jinxian has been invited to attend, provide oral testimony, and answer questions from lawmakers. It is highly rare for a UK parliamentary committee to invite Taiwan's highest-ranking diplomat in the UK to testify.
Members of the National Security Strategy Committee come from both the House of Lords and the House of Commons, including several MPs who chair other committees, such as Defense, Foreign Affairs, Business and Trade, and Home Affairs. Therefore, the National Security Strategy Committee is considered a "heavyweight" committee. It has historically conducted investigations on multiple critical security issues and invited high-ranking UK government officials, such as National Security Advisers, to testify.
The committee irregularly launches inquiries into specific issues, seeks public opinion, and invites domestic and foreign experts and officials to present oral testimony and answer questions. After an inquiry concludes, the committee publishes a report providing recommendations to the government. The government is usually required to respond within a certain timeframe, stating whether it agrees with the committee's narrative and accepts its recommendations.
The National Security Strategy Committee announced today that the "societal resilience" inquiry will explore the UK's level of crisis preparedness, understand the British public's perception of "resilience," and provide recommended actions for the government to strengthen national resilience.
The committee stated that in the session on the 20th, "high-ranking diplomats from Taiwan and the Netherlands" will testify to share their respective experiences. They will elaborate on how Taiwan and the Netherlands build national resilience, develop civil defense, and protect information environments and supply chains from malicious disruption.
According to the plan, the hearing on the 20th will be divided into two halves, with Yao Jinxian and the Dutch Ambassador to the UK, Paul Huijts, testifying separately.
The committee also announced that Lord George Robertson, former Secretary General of NATO, former UK Defense Secretary, and one of the three lead authors of the UK government's "Strategic Defense Review" (SDR) published last year, will be invited to testify and answer questions in the future.
Matt Western, Committee Chair and Labour MP, said today that the committee's newly launched inquiry will explore how the UK can build national resilience and help the public understand the threats the UK faces. The committee will first draw lessons from the experiences of other countries by hearing testimony from the "Ambassadors from Taiwan and the Netherlands."
Western pointed out that "societal resilience" is an extremely important issue; one of the major challenges for the UK government is building the resilience of British society to respond to national security threats.
It is worth noting that not only is the invitation to the Representative to the UK rare, but historical instances of UK parliamentary committees inviting Taiwanese experts or officials to testify publicly at hearings are also quite uncommon.
According to public records, then-Minister of Science and Technology Chen Liang-gee was invited by the House of Commons Education Select Committee in 2019 to testify and answer questions at a hearing on the "Fourth Industrial Revolution," where he spoke about Taiwan's experience in developing artificial intelligence. This was the first time a ministerial-level official from Taiwan was invited to testify.
Additionally, in November 2021, former legislator Jason Hsu (who had stepped down at the time) was invited by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee to testify and answer questions via video link at a hearing related to the UK's Indo-Pacific strategy. Testifying alongside him at the time was former British Representative to Taiwan Michael Reilly. (Editor: Tang Shengyang) 1150418
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(Central News Agency reporter Chen Yunyu, London, 17th) The UK Parliament's Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy has launched a new inquiry on the theme of "societal resilience" and is scheduled to hold its first hearing on the 20th. Representative to the UK Yao Jinxian has been invited to attend, provide oral testimony, and answer questions from lawmakers. It is highly rare for a UK parliamentary committee to invite Taiwan's highest-ranking diplomat in the UK to testify.
Members of the National Security Strategy Committee come from both the House of Lords and the House of Commons, including several MPs who chair other committees, such as Defense, Foreign Affairs, Business and Trade, and Home Affairs. Therefore, the National Security Strategy Committee is considered a "heavyweight" committee. It has historically conducted investigations on multiple critical security issues and invited high-ranking UK government officials, such as National Security Advisers, to testify.
The committee irregularly launches inquiries into specific issues, seeks public opinion, and invites domestic and foreign experts and officials to present oral testimony and answer questions. After an inquiry concludes, the committee publishes a report providing recommendations to the government. The government is usually required to respond within a certain timeframe, stating whether it agrees with the committee's narrative and accepts its recommendations.
The National Security Strategy Committee announced today that the "societal resilience" inquiry will explore the UK's level of crisis preparedness, understand the British public's perception of "resilience," and provide recommended actions for the government to strengthen national resilience.
The committee stated that in the session on the 20th, "high-ranking diplomats from Taiwan and the Netherlands" will testify to share their respective experiences. They will elaborate on how Taiwan and the Netherlands build national resilience, develop civil defense, and protect information environments and supply chains from malicious disruption.
According to the plan, the hearing on the 20th will be divided into two halves, with Yao Jinxian and the Dutch Ambassador to the UK, Paul Huijts, testifying separately.
The committee also announced that Lord George Robertson, former Secretary General of NATO, former UK Defense Secretary, and one of the three lead authors of the UK government's "Strategic Defense Review" (SDR) published last year, will be invited to testify and answer questions in the future.
Matt Western, Committee Chair and Labour MP, said today that the committee's newly launched inquiry will explore how the UK can build national resilience and help the public understand the threats the UK faces. The committee will first draw lessons from the experiences of other countries by hearing testimony from the "Ambassadors from Taiwan and the Netherlands."
Western pointed out that "societal resilience" is an extremely important issue; one of the major challenges for the UK government is building the resilience of British society to respond to national security threats.
It is worth noting that not only is the invitation to the Representative to the UK rare, but historical instances of UK parliamentary committees inviting Taiwanese experts or officials to testify publicly at hearings are also quite uncommon.
According to public records, then-Minister of Science and Technology Chen Liang-gee was invited by the House of Commons Education Select Committee in 2019 to testify and answer questions at a hearing on the "Fourth Industrial Revolution," where he spoke about Taiwan's experience in developing artificial intelligence. This was the first time a ministerial-level official from Taiwan was invited to testify.
Additionally, in November 2021, former legislator Jason Hsu (who had stepped down at the time) was invited by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee to testify and answer questions via video link at a hearing related to the UK's Indo-Pacific strategy. Testifying alongside him at the time was former British Representative to Taiwan Michael Reilly. (Editor: Tang Shengyang) 1150418
Choose to stand with the facts. Every sponsorship you provide is the power to protect freedom of the press.
Download the Central News Agency "First-hand News" APP to grasp the latest news in real time.
The text, images, and audio/video on this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, publicly transmitted, or utilized without authorization.