TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The prime ministers of Italy and the U.K. reiterated the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed on Thursday (April 27).

Giorgia Meloni and Rishi Sunak called for a peaceful resolution of Taiwan Strait issues “without the threat or use of force or coercion” and opposed unilateral changes to the status quo.

Meloni and Sunak expressed concern over China’s human rights violations in Xinjiang and Tibet, and the deterioration of Hong Kong's freedom and autonomy. China should “uphold its responsibilities as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council,” including not backing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, they said.

However, the prime ministers said they are willing to cooperate with China on global challenges, including climate change, biodiversity, global health issues, and gender equality.

Additionally, Meloni and Sunak said they will partner with countries to “manage increasing systemic rivalry and competition and to strengthen common economic security and resilience” as well as continue to safeguard the rules-based international order.

Thursday’s MOU echoes a similar statement made by U.K. Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly, who said that unilateral action must not be taken to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait, during the Lord Mayor’s Easter Banquet at Mansion House in London on April 25.

In February, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani stressed that the status quo in the Taiwan Strait “must be maintained in the Indo-Pacific; we are committed to this with NATO and the EU.” “Taipei must remain as it is,” he added.