Liz Truss was paid more than £90,000 for five-day visit to Taiwan

Former British prime minister Liz Truss was paid more than £90,000 for her five-day trip to Taiwan in May, a visit that was severely criticised by China.

Ms Truss, the shortest-serving prime minister of the UK for just 44 days, was the first British leader to visit Taiwan since Margaret Thatcher in 1996.

She was invited to Taipei by Taiwan's foreign ministry to meet high-ranking officials, including president Tsai Ing-wen, in an effort to strengthen Western ties amid China's escalating aggression.

She was paid £10,841 by the Taiwanese government for flights and accommodation, according to financial disclosures published on the British parliament’s website last month.

However, she received the majority of the payment from Prospect Foundation, a Taiwan-based think tank, for whom she delivered a keynote address on 17 May.

She was paid £80,000 for her speaking engagement by the think tank which was sanctioned by China.

Taiwan's foreign ministry on Monday said such speaking engagements were common for outgoing British leaders but did not comment on the speaking fee as it was not a party to the payment contract, Taiwan News reported.

In her speech to the Prospect Foundation, Ms Truss urged the West not to work with China, while drawing comparisons between the self-governed East Asian island with Ukraine.

"If Beijing keeps its word and escalates aggression towards Taiwan, substantial decoupling will be unavoidable.

“If we fail to prepare for this, the consequent economic pain will be felt by all of our people across the free world," she said.

Her visit was vehemently condemned by Beijing, who called it a "dangerous political stunt" which will "do nothing but harm to the UK”.

"We urge the relevant British politician to correct her wrongdoing, stop making political shows with the Taiwan question and stop conniving at and supporting ‘Taiwan independence’ secessionist forces," a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in London said in a statement.

China has beefed up its military activities around the self-ruled island in recent years, arguing that Taipei is obliged to reunite with Beijing, by force if necessary.

Beijing claims Taiwan has no right to conduct foreign relations and often responds with large-scale military exercises around the island that split from the mainland in 1949 following a civil war.

While Taiwan maintains official diplomatic relations with just 13 sovereign nations, it retains robust ties with most major countries, including the US.

The Taiwanese government has been ramping up its effort to build Western relations to deter China's advances by inviting state leaders and visiting ally countries in Central America.

The foreign ministry is reportedly planning to expand its budget to about £10.90m in order to invite around 2,400 foreign guests in 2023, an increase of 300 compared to 2022.

Chinese state media Global Times in its report alleged that prior to Ms Truss, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and former house speaker Nancy Pelosi received similar payments for their visits and speaking engagements.

The foreign ministry last year rejected a local media report on payments made for Mr Pompeo visit, saying that the "malicious speculation made with the aim of shifting public focus from the true meaning of the visit and disparaging a true friend of Taiwan".

Mr Pompeo’s contributions to the development of Taiwan-US ties during his tenure as US secretary of state is a matter of public record and the two nations’ friendship has been deepened thanks to his visit, the ministry added.