Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office written question – answered at on 11 September 2023.
Elizabeth Truss
Conservative, South West Norfolk
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2023 to Question 190783 on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Taiwan: Foreign Relations, if he will identify which Minister represented his Department for each meeting it held with representatives of the Taiwan Government in (a) 2018, (b) 2019, (c) 2020, (d) 2021, (e) 2022 and (f) 2023; and if he will identify the (i) job title and (ii) grade of the most senior official who represented his Department when a minister was not present for each meeting it held with representatives of the Taiwan Government in (A) 2018, (B) 2019, (C) 2020, (D) 2021, (E) 2022 and (F) 2023.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There have been no meetings between ministers from this Department and Taiwan in the years 2018 to 2023. The Department has had regular official level meetings with representatives of the Taiwanese administration during this period, both in the UK and through the British Office in Taipei, in line with our longstanding policy on Taiwan.
Yes1 person thinks so
No1 person thinks not
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
