Taipei, Taiwan — On February 25, the Taiwanese government announced that it would impose economic sanctions on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, statement Russia’s aggression, issued Friday, said it “dangered regional and global peace and stability” and posed “the most serious threats and challenges to the rule-based international order.”
“The Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) has announced that it will participate in international economic sanctions against Russia in order to stop Russia from invading the military against Ukraine and resume peaceful dialogue among all concerned as soon as possible.” Said.
The ministry did not provide details on what sanctions Taiwan would impose on Russia.
The ministry concluded that “Taiwan will continue to work closely with the United States and other like-minded countries to take appropriate steps to free Ukraine from the fear of war.”
Australia, Canada, JapanThe European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States have announced sanctions against Russia after Moscow launched what Russia’s President Vladimir Putin called “special military operations” in Ukraine on February 24.
Taiwan was one of the U.S. allies named after the White House announcement “Package of unprecedented financial sanctions and export restrictions” against Russia on February 24. According to the White House Deputy National Security Advisor and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, The Great Khali, US export restrictions are defense, aerospace, and maritime.
Mr Shin said the United States will work closely with the European Union, Australia, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Taiwan to impose export bans.
Taiwan is a major semiconductor manufacturer and home to the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer, TSMC. Semiconductors are small chips that power everything from smartphones, computers, fighters to missile systems.
Following the announcement by the Taiwanese government, TSMCI Said in a statement “We are committed to complying with all applicable laws and regulations and complying with the new export control regulations announced.”
“The company also has a rigorous export control system in place, including a robust evaluation and review process to ensure that export control restrictions are being followed,” TSMC added.
TSMC told the Taiwanese government-run central news agency that it is currently exporting almost nothing to Russia. In 2021, 65% of TSMC chips went to North America, followed by Asia Pacific at 14%, China at 10% and Japan at 5%.
According to data from the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Taiwan, Taiwan exported $ 1.318 billion worth of goods to Russia and imported $ 5 billion of Russian goods in 2021. Currently, Taiwan’s trade with Russia accounts for only 0.76 percent of the island’s total trade.
Also on Friday, Taiwan’s economic minister, Wang Mika, said Taiwan would diversify its natural gas supply after the contract with Russia expired in March.
Currently, Taiwan is attracting international attention as well as semiconductor chips. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has fueled speculation about Taiwan’s fate as to whether the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will soon invade the autonomous islands with clues from Russia.
In October last year, Chinese leader Xi Jinping vowed that “unification” between Taiwan and China would be “certainly realized.”
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen told reporters on Friday that the situation in Taiwan and Ukraine is fundamentally different, with the former having the Taiwan Strait as a “natural barrier.”
China and Taiwan are separated by the Taiwan Strait, which is about 80 miles wide at the narrowest point.
She added that the continued improvement of Taiwan’s combat power and the high interest of “friendly and allies” in the region have given them strong confidence in maintaining the security of the island.
“We also strengthened psychological defenses, strengthened preventive cognitive warfare activities, foreign troops and local collaborators used false information to panic and took advantage of the turbulent situation in Ukraine. We need to prevent it from affecting the morale of Taiwanese society, “Tsai said.
The Taiwan Ministry of Defense announced on Friday that the island’s troops would continue to monitor military development around the Taiwan Strait while maintaining a high level of vigilance. The Taiwanese military is also actively strengthening its combat readiness in response to various possible emergencies.
Reuters contributed to this article..
follow
Frank Fang is a Taiwan-based journalist. He covers news in China and Taiwan. He holds a master’s degree in materials science from Tsinghua University in Taiwan.