Former UK PM Boris Johnson says Taiwan has a ‘far more robust claim’ to statehood than the Palestinians

Johnson: “Unlike the Palestinians, Taiwan has a recognized government… boundaries that they control… a proper democratic system.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Speaking during a visit to Taipei, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson argued that Taiwan has a stronger claim to statehood than the Palestinians, citing its stable government, defined borders and functioning democracy.

“Unlike the Palestinians, Taiwan has a recognized government… boundaries that they control… a proper democratic system, none of which you could say, with all due respect, about Palestine,” Johnson said.

His remarks came in response to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s recent announcement that the UK will support recognizing a Palestinian state at the upcoming UN Security Council meeting in September, aligning with France’s position and marking a shift from previous British policy.

The UK does not currently recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state, despite its independent government and de facto autonomy from China.

In a separate Daily Mail column published Friday, Johnson strongly criticized the UK’s plan to back Palestinian statehood, claiming it played into the hands of Hamas and undermined Israel’s right to defend itself.

“Never in the wildest dreams of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, can he have believed – when he and his colleagues instigated the horror of October 7 – that only 22 months later the United Kingdom itself would be so craven and pathetic as to fall for Hamas propaganda and to turn against Israel,” Johnson wrote.

He argued that Hamas could never have imagined “London would be so easily manipulated” into believing recognition would end the crisis. Instead, he said, the move effectively rewards Hamas for its role in the October 7 attacks.

According to Johnson, recognizing Palestine implies that it has both clear borders and a viable government—conditions he strongly disputed. He described the Palestinian territories as divided between Fatah and Hamas, the latter of which he labeled “a psychotic Islamofascist death cult that treats women as second-class citizens and throws gays off rooftops.”

Johnson also defended Israel’s military operation in Gaza, comparing it to earlier global efforts to dismantle terrorist regimes.

“We thought it was worthwhile to rid the world of a homicidal Islamist death cult, and we were right,” he wrote. “It was awful, but we could see no other way. In the end, it worked, and in the end – grim though things now seem – the Israeli operation will work in Gaza.”

Boris JohnsonPalestinian StateTaiwan