Western politicians wanting some attention have developed a penchant for popping up in Taiwan and throwing their weight behind its pro-independence authorities so they can buff up their image as principled politicians.

The upcoming visit to the Chinese island announced by Liz Truss, the former UK leader, who has the dubious distinction of being the country's shortest-serving prime minister, being a case in point.

Although such visits are intended to convey principled integrity, they only serve to show the unscrupulous opportunism of the visitors who readily dismiss the fundamental truth that Taiwan is "a province of China with no separate status", as stated in a UN resolution and generally acknowledged by most of the international community, so they can mouth off about a China threat. For such is the distorted narrative that prevails that bashing Beijing for its steadfast resolve to pursue reunification plays well with the constituencies these high-minded day-trippers hope to appeal to.

As Truss should know, the one-China principle serves as the political foundation of China's relations with other countries, including the United Kingdom.

She should also know that bilateral ties between Beijing and London have deteriorated in recent years as a result of the UK constantly trying to stick its oar into Hong Kong affairs. And she should be aware that UK Minister of State in the Department for Business and Trade Dominic Johnson is paying an official visit to Hong Kong this week, the first in five years by a senior UK official, which is widely perceived as signaling there has been a thaw in the frosty relations between the two sides.

President Xi Jinping's special representative Vice-President Han Zheng, who attended the coronation ceremony of King Charles III on Saturday and met with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during his stay, was assured that the UK values its relations with China and it hopes to jointly tap the broad prospects for cooperation in areas such as the green economy and sustainable development.

Likewise, in an opinion piece published in the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post on Tuesday, Johnson said the "UK will continue to engage robustly and constructively" with China where their interests converge.

Repair work on relations is clearly underway. Repair work that Truss threatens to sabotage with her trip.

The ball is now in the UK government's court to keep the dire consequences of Truss' upcoming visit to Taiwan at bay and catch up with the "relationship renewal" trend of its neighbors in Europe.