Ex-UK leader Truss to urge tougher China stance in Tokyo

By SYLVIA HUI
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss will join the former leaders of Australia and Belgium at a conference in Tokyo later this month to call for a tougher international approach to China. The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international group of lawmakers, said Friday that Truss will speak alongside former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the Feb. 17 event in the Japanese Diet. Former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt will also attend. Conference organizers hope the event would help spur more coordinated diplomacy on threats raised by China ahead of the next Group of Seven richest democratic countries’ summit, scheduled in May in Hiroshima. Truss is expected to address growing concerns over Beijing’s threats to Taiwan.