Taiwan Orders Army to be Combat Ready Amid Ukraine Crisis

Taiwan Orders Army to be Combat Ready Amid Ukraine Crisis
Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen speaks during her visit to Penghu Air Force Base in Penghu county, Taiwan on Sept. 22, 2020. Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images
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As the Ukraine crisis unfolds, Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen has ordered the self-ruled island’s military forces and national security agencies to strengthen their combat readiness.

Tsai delivered instructions during a high-level national security meeting on Wednesday.

Taiwan set up a Ukraine working group last month to closely monitor the confrontation thousands of miles away in Europe, studying how Russia’s move could impact its neighbor, the communist regime in Beijing.

“Our national security agencies and military must ramp up their efforts to monitor and provide early warning of military developments in the Taiwan Strait and surrounding areas,” Tsai told the meeting.

She ordered to “ensure our national security by continuing to strengthen our readiness to respond to military developments in the Taiwan Strait,” according to the statement released by her office.

Tsai’s remarks come amid growing speculation that the Ukraine crisis could be used by the communist regime in China to hasten its claim on Taiwan.

The regime views Taiwan as its own territory to be taken by force if necessary.

Tsai further said that “external forces” would attempt to sway the Taiwanese public by manipulating developments in Ukraine. She told government agencies to step up their guard against cognitive warfare from “external forces,” according to the statement.

Taiwan warned in its National Defense Report last year that Beijing is using “cognitive warfare” to seize the island “without a fight.”
A Taiwanese Air Force F-16 in the foreground flies on the flank of a Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force H-6 bomber as it passes near Taiwan on Feb. 10, 2020. (Republic of China Ministry of National Defense via AP)
A Taiwanese Air Force F-16 in the foreground flies on the flank of a Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force H-6 bomber as it passes near Taiwan on Feb. 10, 2020. Republic of China Ministry of National Defense via AP

Tsai also condemned Russia’s infringement on Ukrainian sovereignty, it stated. However, she noted that Taiwan is fundamentally different from Ukraine in terms of geostrategic factors, geography, and role in international supply chains.

Tsai expressed “empathy” last month for Ukraine’s situation because of the “military threats and intimidation” Taipei faces from Beijing.

On Wednesday, Beijing’s foreign ministry dismissed parallels between the issues of Taipei and Kyiv, accusing Taiwan of “seeking clout” by using the Ukraine crisis.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying reiterated the regime’s claim on Taiwan at a daily briefing.

Hua’s comments come after China’s foreign minister said Beijing is closely following the situation in Ukraine.
Experts have suggested that Beijing is learning from the crisis in Ukraine in relation to its own strategy toward Taiwan.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson flagged the risk for Taiwan in a warning last week about the damaging worldwide consequences if Western nations failed to fulfill their promises to support Ukraine’s independence.

“If Ukraine is invaded, the shock will echo around the world, and those echoes will be heard in East Asia and they will be heard in Taiwan,” Johnson said at a security conference in Munich. “People will draw the conclusion that aggression pays and that might is right,” he said.

Reuters contributed to the report.