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The world has looked the other way for too long

I would never have believed that I would ever see a Brexit opponent and a supporter in the same room who completely agree.

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The world has looked the other way for too long

I would never have believed that I would ever see a Brexit opponent and a supporter in the same room who completely agree. Last week, British ex-Prime Minister Liz Truss and former Belgian Prime Minister and MEP Guy Verhofstadt attended a symposium in Japan. It was organized by an institution I work for: the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC).

Brexit has created a rift between the UK and the rest of Europe. In the conference room it was obvious that both are on opposite sides. But Verhofstadt said: "Whatever your views on Brexit may be - I have some - do not let them undermine our common interests: In today's world, democracies must be united, beyond reproach and unconditional." I laughed a lot when I heard that.

Truss criticized the human rights situation in China and suggested closer cooperation between NATO and the defense alliances in the Pacific region. She called for creating an economic NATO in the region, working on transparency in supply chains and reducing dependencies - in order to defend our common values. "Prevention is better than cure," she said.

Political scientist Francis Fukuyama was wrong when he predicted the "end of history" and the victory of liberal democracy and the free market after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Verhofstadt said. In reality, the story never ends. The world must now recognize the "evil" in authoritarianism and realize that democratic values ​​cannot be taken for granted; it needs "hard power" to preserve democracy.

So, despite their political differences, Truss and Verhofstadt agree on the need to work together on issues such as dependency, human rights abuses and the military threat to Taiwan. Neither the EU nor the UK can address these issues separately. Now, some may frown and think that Truss and Verhofstadt are being "too aggressive" with that. But belligerent in this context means nothing other than a refusal to accept gross violations of human rights and the dissolution of the rules-based order.

Now more than ever, we need common action to protect democracy and freedom. The free world has turned a blind eye to China's violations of human rights and international values ​​for too long. It was the free world that enabled China's rise - believing that trade would lead to democratization. That is why the free world has a responsibility to counter Beijing's ambitions. Now is the right time. Enough people have already suffered.

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