Ms Truss, who is Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister, warned against capitulating to “rhetorical bullying from authoritarian regimes” while on a trip to Taiwan.

Appearing at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit ahead of a high-profile visit to Taiwan, Ms Truss said: “There’s no doubt that the entire western world including the United States, including Europe, including the UK, has become too dependent on China, and that’s a problem because it’s given China leverage over us, and it’s also a problem economically.

“Yes, the UK needs to take more action but it’s not just the UK, it’s the continent of Europe, it’s the United States.”

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A Chinese communist party official previously told LBC that Liz Truss’ planned trip to Taiwan could lead towards China “exercising jurisdiction” over the island.

Victor Gao, a spokesperson for the ruling Chinese communist party, hit out at the ex-PM in an interview with LBC’s Andrew Marr, saying her visit “will have no constructive purposes at all”.

Taiwan believes it is a sovereign state, while China views it as a breakaway province that will eventually be controlled by Beijing.

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Asked about her own stance on Beijing compared with the less hawkish position of her successor, she said: “I stand by my assertion that we should designate China as a threat.

“I think they’re a very clear threat. I think they’re the largest threat that we face to the free world.”

Meanwhile, addressing the ongoing war in Ukraine, Ms Truss said: “I think we are sending extra long-range weapons – that is very welcome.

“I’ve said I want to see us sending fighter jets to Ukraine – I know we’re supplying training on that… but we’ve got to focus on Ukraine, we also need to focus on the threat from China.

“That is my message – that these things are inherently linked. If we take our eye off the ball on China, we’ll be facing a very, very serious problem down the road.”