A war-of-words has broken out after a top Tory accused Liz Truss of "the worst kind of Instagram diplomacy".
The flash-in-a-pan Prime Minister - who served just 49 days in No10 - has outraged her Conservative colleagues with plans to speak in hotspot Taiwan next week.
Tory MP Alicia Kearns, who heads the foreign affairs select committee, has said it's nothing but a vanity trip and said Ms Truss was trying to "keep herself relevant".
She warned that the bungling ex-PM's visit could cause even more problems in the region.
Ms Truss, whose failed economic experiment piled misery on millions of people, said she plans to show "solidarity" with Taiwanese people in the face of Chinese aggression.
She shot back at Ms Kearns, accusing her of "petty political attacks" and saying she was "misusing" her position.
In a scathing attack, the select committee chief dismissed next week's visit as "the worst kind of Instagram diplomacy".
Ms Truss became well known for elaborate photo opportunities during her spell as Foreign Secretary under Boris Johnson, having been mocked for posing in a tank in Estonia back in 2021.
Ms Kearns told The Guardian she is nonplussed by the ex-PM jetting off to the Far East.
She said: “It is deeply unhelpful because it escalates the normal situation in Taiwan."
Referring to a controversial visit by former US House of Representative speaker Nancy Pelosi last year - which angered China - she said: “Taiwanese people already have to live with more Chinese military manoeuvres because of Nancy Pelosi’s visit.
"Liz Truss doesn’t have any influence any more – this is more about keeping herself relevant.”
Ms Truss was having none of it
Her spokesman hit back: "The former prime minister has been invited to visit by the Taiwan Government. They are better placed to know what is in the interests of the Taiwanese people than the MP for Rutland.
"The future of Taiwan as a free democracy is at stake. Alicia Kearns should apologise for misusing her position as a select committee chair to engage in petty political attacks."
Ms Truss is among the right-wing Tories arguing for a firmer line on China, despite this putting her at odds with the current Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly.
Mr Cleverly has previously warned the Government against "pulling the shutters down" on China.
Ms Truss is a big fan of Instagram, with her greatest hits including a selfie with Taylor Swift in 2019 and a bizarre staged photo next to warplanes in India.
She also expected to deliver what aides described as a “keynote speech”, which could earn her tens of thousands of pounds.
Since being forced out of No10 as Britain’s shortest-serving PM, she has tried to forge a niche as a hawk on Beijing, warning of China’s rising military might and growing economic dominance.
Ms Truss said earlier this week: “Taiwan is a beacon of freedom and democracy.
“I’m looking forward to showing solidarity with the Taiwanese people in person in the face of increasingly aggressive behaviour and rhetoric from the regime in Beijing.”
Ms Truss' visit could create a diplomatic headache for the UK Government which does not recognise Taiwan, nor maintain formal diplomatic relations with the island.
PM Rishi Sunak was blasted by some Conservatives in March when the Government’s updated Integrated Review of security, defence and foreign affairs failed to designate China as a “threat” to the UK.
