UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Sunday vowed to defend the country's right to self-determination of Falklands' sovereignty after Beijing backed Argentina's territorial claims over the British-run islands.
On Sunday, Argentina joined China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) during Argentine President Alberto Fernandez's visit to Beijing China to attend the Winter Games.
Fernandez and Chinese President Xi spoke of their "deep friendship" and signed an agreement in which China reasserted its support for Argentina's claim to the Falklands.
Taking to Twitter, the UK Foreign Secretary said Falklands are part of the British family and they will "defend their right to self-determination."
"We completely reject any questions over sovereignty of the Falklands. The Falklands are part of the British family and we will defend their right to self determination. China must respect the Falklands' sovereignty," Truss tweeted.
In a joint statement issued on Sunday, China had said Argentina should be able to exercise its sovereignty over the Falklands Islands issue.
The two sides also signed the Memorandum of Understanding about cooperating within the BRI initiative.
Belt and Road is China's international project seeking to promote cooperation between Beijing and over 60 of its trading partners in Asia, Africa and Europe. However, several analysts have pointed out the lack of transparency and dubious nature of funding in these projects.
Some experts have even said that China is funding projects that are economically viable and burdening developing countries with large scale debt.
( With inputs from ANI )
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