Like Ukraine, Taiwan has a large, well-armed neighbor that wants its territory. But Taiwan's diplomat in the U.S. says her nation is a cat with nine lives.
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WASHINGTON — Taiwan is watching events in Ukraine with "much concern and anxiety" but plans to make
any possible Chinese military attack on Taiwan "too painful" to consider, Taipei’s representative in Washington, Bi-khim Hsiao, told NBC News in an interview.
Hsiao made the comments as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned during a trip to Asia over the weekend that other countries were monitoring the Ukraine crisis closely and that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could have repercussions for the Pacific region.
"Like everyone else in the world, we are watching the situation with much concern and anxiety," she said. "We certainly hope that the situation can be resolved peacefully through diplomatic means. But at the same time, Taiwan has distinct historical and geopolitical circumstances, and we need to be focused on our priority and that is bolstering Taiwan's self defense."
Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, said last month her nation "empathized" with the plight of Ukrainians due to
the military threat Taiwan faces from its powerful, larger neighbor. She
ordered the creation of a task force to study how tensions between Russia and Ukraine could affect Taiwan’s own long-running conflict with Beijing.
Former U.S. officials say China will gauge the U.S. response to Russia as a possible guide to
how Washington might counter a crisis over Taiwan.
Asked about a recent joint declaration from Moscow and Beijing in which Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed support for Russia’s stance on Ukraine, Hsiao said the two countries were cooperating in ways that posed a challenge to democracies.
"I think it's pretty clear to all of us around the world that those undermining stability are China and Russia," she said.
Russia’s troop buildup around Ukraine began last year, but Taiwanese and U.S. officials say China has been engaged in threatening behavior towards Taipei for years, including deploying missiles near the island and
repeatedly flying into the island’s air defense zone.
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