Early Wednesday, the President of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, tweeted in support of Ukraine – while making clear that any attempts by China to ‘take’ Taiwan, now or later, will be met with force.
“Taiwan condemns Russia’s infringement on Ukrainian sovereignty & encourages all parties involved to resolve their disputes rationally & peacefully,” she wrote. “Meanwhile, we will take steps to bolster our military readiness & counter cognitive warfare while ensuring economic stability.”
Taiwan condemns Russia’s infringement on Ukrainian sovereignty & encourages all parties involved to resolve their disputes rationally & peacefully. Meanwhile, we will take steps to bolster our military readiness & counter cognitive warfare while ensuring economic stability. pic.twitter.com/iZJC5TQlc0
— 蔡英文 Tsai Ing-wen (@iingwen) February 23, 2022
Not so fast
Three hours later, the CCP-owned mouthpiece for the regime, Global Times, tweeted: “Taiwan is eager to grab attention from the Ukraine issue. But there is no dispute over Ukraine’s sovereignty despite disputes on its borders.”
“Taiwan’s sovereignty has never existed. It’s only a matter of time that your secessionist regime will be eradicated.”
#Comment
Taiwan is eager to grab attention from the Ukraine issue. But there is no dispute over Ukraine’s sovereignty despite disputes on its borders. Taiwan’s sovereignty has never existed. It’s only a matter of time that your secessionist regime will be eradicated. https://t.co/n3x02gVKrm pic.twitter.com/fVevDvF0u5— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) February 23, 2022
China Foreign Ministry spox Hua Chunying was quick to dispel any parallels as well.
Hua added that the issue of Taiwan is left over from the civil war, and ‘China’s integrity should never have been compromised,’ according to Reuters (whatever that means).
The defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the civil war to the Communists, who set up the People’s Republic of China.
Taiwan’s government strongly opposes China’s territorial claims. Tsai says Taiwan is an independent state called the Republic of China, which remains Taiwan’s official name.
All security and military units “must raise their surveillance and early warning of military developments around the Taiwan Strait,” Tsai told a meeting of the working group on the Ukraine crisis set up by her National Security Council.
Taiwan and Ukraine are fundamentally different in terms of geostrategy, geography and international supply chains, she added, in details of the meeting provided by her office. -Reuters
According to Tsai, “in the face of foreign forces intending to manipulate the situation in Ukraine and affect the morale of Taiwanese society, all government units must strengthen the prevention of cognitive warfare launched by foreign forces and local collaborators.”
Meanwhile, China says the United States is the ‘culprit’ of tensions over Ukraine.
China’s Foreign Ministry was asked in a press briefing today what role Beijing has played in alleviating tensions in Ukraine.
A spokesperson responded by calling the US “the culprit”: pic.twitter.com/OWGCAD1hgL
— Kayla Tausche (@kaylatausche) February 23, 2022