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Bloomberg
Taiwan’s president played down concerns that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could trigger a similar crisis in Asia, warning against any efforts to use the crisis in Europe to sow panic in Taiwan.
President Tsai Ing-wen condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin for damaging global stability and violating Ukraine’s sovereignty, a nation that shares similar security worries with Taiwan.
“I want to stress that the situation in Ukraine and in Taiwan Strait are fundamentally different, not only because of the natural barrier of the Taiwan Strait, but also Taiwan’s geopolitical and strategic status,†she said in a speech in the southern city of Tainan Friday morning.
She also warned the public to be wary of any “external forces†using fake information about Ukraine to cause panic about a possible threat to Taiwan.
One example of what Tsai characterized as “cognitive warfare†against the island was an offer by the Chinese government to evacuate any Taiwanese citizens from Ukraine. The Foreign Ministry in Taipei said the offer was a “disgusting†attempt by Beijing to use the crisis in Ukraine for political propaganda in an effort to discredit the Taiwanese government. There are currently just 33 Taiwanese citizens in Ukraine, according to the ministry.
Some 160 km (100 miles) of sea separate Taiwan from China, a nation of 1.4 billion people whose government has threatened to use military force to stop the leadership in Taipei from moving toward formal independence. That threat is a part of daily life in Taiwan, though officials in Taipei see the current risk of a Chinese attack as low.
One reason for that is the leadership in Beijing wants domestic stability before a twice-a-decade congress later this year that is likely to hand Chinese President Xi Jinping a precedent-breaking third term in power. Officials in Taiwan also see the People’s Liberation Army as lacking the capabilities to guarantee the success of any attack.
Chinese state media heaped scorn on Tsai’s expression of concern for Ukraine Friday. Tsai’s empathy for Ukraine is “unreasonable self-pity,†the China Daily wrote in an editorial, citing an unidentified official at Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office.
The dispute between Ukraine and Russia is between two sovereign countries while Taiwan is merely a Chinese internal issue, the article states.