Foreign Affairs Committee launches inquiry into tilt to the Indo-Pacific

• Inquiry: Implementing the Integrated Review: Tilt to the Indo-Pacific
• Foreign Affairs Committee

Send us your views

• Submit written evidence to the inquiry

The Committee is asking for initial written evidence by midnight on 15 September 2021. Please see the list of questions below for what the committee is looking for.

The Committee welcomes evidence on the following topics

Regional questions

• What are the UK’s main interests in the Indo-Pacific region, and what are the main threats and opportunities? Eg. How can the UK’s Indo-Pacific strategy complement that of allies, such as the US Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) strategy? What are the specific areas of competition and cooperation with European partners such as France and Germany?
• What are the geopolitical implications of the UK’s potential accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership?
• How can the UK maximise the influence brought by its new status as an ASEAN Dialogue Partner? And what should it use this influence for?
• How should the UK respond to China’s growing military assertiveness in the region? How should the UK prepare for responding to potential flashpoints like Taiwan and the Senkaku islands?
• How can the new Build Back Better World/Clean Green Initiative be used most effectively as an alternative to the Belt and Road Initiative in the Indo-Pacific?
• What should be the resource priorities for the FCDO’s new Indo-Pacific Directorate? Where should the FCDO focus on increasing its footprint in terms of Posts and staff?
• How can the UK build on and enhance existing defence arrangements in the region, such as the Quad, the Five Power Defence Arrangements, and Five Eyes?

Country specific questions

• What should the UK’s approach be to strengthening relations with Indonesia, Japan and Taiwan?
• In what areas should the UK prioritise deeper collaboration with these countries (e.g. trade, education, science and tech, defence and security, development)?
• How can the UK improve its partnership with Indonesia in areas including land and environmental rights, and promoting open societies and rule of law in the region?
• How should the UK Government work with Japan to support the improvement of cyber security, development of advanced technologies, and values-based digital growth in the Indo-Pacific? Should the UK look to expand Five Eyes to include Japan?
• What specific support is needed by and for Taiwan in the face of growing aggression from the PRC? What commitments should the UK give?

Form of written evidence

Submissions should be no longer than 3,000 words. The main body of any submission should use numbered paragraphs. Each submission should contain: 

• a short summary, perhaps in bullet point form;
• a brief introduction about the person or organisation submitting evidence, for example explaining their area of expertise or experience;
• any factual information from which the Committee might be able to draw conclusions, or which could be put to other witnesses;
• any recommendations for action by the Government or others which the submitter would like the Committee to consider for inclusion in its report to the House;
• It is not necessary to address all the terms of reference, submissions can focus on one or more questions.

Submissions should be in malleable format such as MS Word (not PDFs) with no use of colour or logos. Submissions should be arranged in numbered paragraphs.

Guidance on submitting written evidence and data protection information is available here: 

• Guidance on submitting written evidence

Diversity

We encourage members of underrepresented groups to submit written evidence. We aim to have diverse panels of Select Committee witnesses and ask organisations to bear this in mind when we ask them to choose a representative. We are currently monitoring the diversity of our witnesses.

Chair's comment

"The publication of the Integrated Review raises questions over plans the Government has for our place in the world. What does it mean for the increased openness, wider engagement and new opportunities it champions?

Britain already enjoys strong diplomatic ties with many countries in the Indo-Pacific, and the recent push to reorient our foreign policy should lead to a further strengthening of these relationships. If we are to build upon our strong foundations in the region, Britain will have to look beyond traditional diplomacy. Strategic economic investments, closer military collaboration and the provision of aid will make up Global Britain’s toolkit, all of which we will examine in this inquiry.

This inquiry will take a broad look at the geostrategic implications of the ‘tilt to the Indo-Pacific’, as well as focus in on the Britain’s bilateral relationships with important partners, such as Japan, Taiwan and Indonesia.”

Further information

• About Parliament: Select committees
• Visiting Parliament: Watch committees

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