Russia’s Ukraine invasion a ‘wake-up call’ that increased Taiwan’s will to fight: Foreign minister
Jerry Dunleavy
Video Embed
Taiwan’s foreign minister said Russia’s war against Ukraine was a “wake-up call” for Taiwan that the island nation has been “learning lessons” from and that the Taiwanese people have been increasing their “will to defend themselves” against a Chinese invasion as a result.
Foreign Minister Joseph Wu spoke with the Washington Examiner at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taipei this week, where he outlined the important need for the United States to deliver Taiwan the weapons it needs to defend itself, warned that the Chinese military threat against his democratic country was increasing, and contended that the Kremlin’s attack on Ukraine had spurred the Taiwanese government and its people into action.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“It’s a wake-up call for a lot of countries. And we have been learning lessons from Ukraine,” Wu said. “And I believe that the Russians have also been learning their own lessons for their inability to take over Ukraine. And I believe China is also learning lessons. And European countries have also been learning their lessons. And for Taiwan, the lesson we learned is that the way to prevent a much bigger military from winning the war is asymmetric strategy. And we have been transforming our military strategy along that line.”
The Ukrainian will to fight the Russians has been widely cited as a key factor for why Ukraine has survived the Kremlin’s onslaught, and top U.S. intelligence and military leaders have admitted they botched their assessments when underestimating the Ukrainian will to fight in 2022. The U.S. also overestimated the Afghan military’s will to fight in 2021 during the Taliban takeover.
Wu said that “the Ukrainian determination for self-defense, to defend its freedom and sovereignty is indisputable — we’ve seen it, and that is something that the Taiwanese people have also been learning.” He added that “we have seen a lot of the international support for Ukraine all these years, including support from Taiwan, and we are also looking forward to international support for Taiwan, whether it’s only moral support or material support or military support — any kind of support is going to be appreciated.”
The Taiwanese foreign minister said that “after the war in Ukraine started, we found from the public opinion surveys that the will for self-defense has been increasing” in Taiwan, with “something like 70% of the people here” saying “they would absolutely defend Taiwan at the time of a Chinese invasion.”
The “DragonBear” alliance between China and Russia has continued to grow since the Kremlin’s invasion, and Taiwanese Vice President William Lai also linked Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to China’s ambitions to take over Taiwan when speaking after a meeting with a U.S. congressional delegation last week.
Wu added that “we can continue to work hard so that the people’s will to defend themselves will continue to grow” and argued that “the adequate training and the appropriate arms that we are able to acquire” would also increase the will to fight because “the ability to defend ourselves will increase the desire and the determination to defend themselves.” The foreign minister said that “those who are receiving better training these days, they think they are more able to defend the country, and therefore the desire to defend the country has also increased.”
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen also told U.S. House members during a closed-door meeting on Saturday that the Taiwanese people had the “will to fight” against a Chinese attack on the island.
And the president of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan, You Si-kun, told the Washington Examiner during a Friday press conference with the U.S. delegation that “Putin actually saw Ukraine as a delicious meal, but after taking action and starting a war, he realized it’s actually a fish bone that is stuck in his throat.” He called it “a warning for Xi Jinping as well” and suggested Taiwan must similarly become like a “fish bone” that the Chinese leader would choke on.
The discussions with Taiwan’s leaders happened against the backdrop of large and threatening drills by the People’s Liberation Army near the coast of Taiwan.
“It is very serious, and the military threat against Taiwan has been real, and the threat has been increasing because of the increasing capabilities by the Chinese,” Wu said, adding that “what China has been doing to Taiwan should not be tolerated.”
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) led U.S. House members on a multiday visit to Taiwan last week, where members of the delegation told Taiwan’s leaders that the U.S. would attempt to resolve delays in sending the island the missiles and rockets that it had already ordered and in some cases had been waiting years to be delivered.
U.S. Air Force Gen. Michael Minihan warned earlier this year that China may invade Taiwan as early as 2025.
Wu said that “if we want to prevent China from having the illusion that they can launch a war against Taiwan and take Taiwan over very quickly,” then Taiwan must “be able to defend itself,” and the island nation’s “like-minded partners” must also have “strong deterrence against the Chinese.” He emphasized that “we are trying to acquire our defense weapons to prevent China from having that illusion that Taiwan is defenseless.”
President Joe Biden has repeatedly vowed that the U.S. would respond militarily to defend Taiwan if China attacked the island, and each time, the White House has subsequently insisted America’s decadeslong policy toward Taiwan was not shifting.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The Taiwanese foreign minister warned against “the expansion of authoritarianism” and said, “I don’t think we should be limited to Taiwan as the way we look at Chinese ambition,” as he pointed to China’s military exercises in the East China Sea near Japan and warned that “the way they conduct military exercises in the South China Sea is doing it as if the whole body of water belongs to China.”
Wu concluded that “Chinese ambition is much more than just Taiwan, and if we are not able to stop the Chinese from taking Taiwan over militarily, we might lose a lot more.”