Taiwan and the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Russia's invasion of Ukraine provoked several strong reactions and public statements from many Taiwanese politicians and political parties, as well as discussions among the public about how the conflict could influence China's subsequent actions against Taiwan. Many members of the Pan-Blue Coalition began to question the depth of the United States' support for Taiwan in the event of a potential invasion by China, resulting in them generally being criticized.
Official reactions
[edit]Then-Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and Kaohsiung Mayor Chan Chi-mai posted public statements on Facebook urging Taiwanese citizens to "Stand With Ukraine" in solidarity with their losses during the war.[1]
The Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs urgently launched an evacuation plan for Taiwanese citizens still in Ukraine, and helped eighteen overseas Taiwanese citizens escape to Poland on 24 February 2022.[2]
Reactions from political parties
[edit]Kuomintang
[edit]Jaw Shaw-kong, a member of the Kuomintang, made a public statement on Facebook stating that a lesson that should be learned from the onset of the conflict was that small countries like Taiwan should not stimulate big countries, which attracted criticism. Newscaster Zhang Yaqin called the statement unacceptable, and said that if Taiwan was controlled by people who followed what mainland China told them to do, Taiwan would become another Ukraine.[3]
Democratic Progressive Party
[edit]In March 2022, Governor of Kaohsiung Weng Zhangliang announced that he would donate one month's worth of his income to support the Ukrainian people.[4]
New Power Party
[edit]The New Power Party issued a statement on February 25, 2022, condemning Russia, describing the incident as an unjustified military aggression by Russia against Ukraine, and calling on everyone to speak out for Ukraine. The New Power Party also criticized that some people in the Pan-Blue Coalition took advantage of the conflict to raise theories regarding if the United States was genuinely committed to supporting Taiwan in an attempt to hurt Taiwan–United States relations. The New Power Party stated that such theories were the product of China's information warfare, used in order to attempt to infiltrate and subvert the Taiwanese public.[5]
Social Democratic Party
[edit]Miao Poya, Taipei City Councilor and Social Democratic Party politician, repeatedly posted on Facebook in support of Ukrainian sovergenity and its people.[6][7][8]
Green Party
[edit]Taiwan's Green Party issued a statement in support of Ukraine on March 1, 2022, emphasizing their recognition of the values of peace and anti-war philosophy, while criticizing some who raised suspicion towards the United States' commitment to supporting Taiwan regarding Cross-strait relations.[9]
Other
[edit]Bajiong, a YouTuber who discusses the issues of Chinese reunification and Taiwanese independence, condemned Taiwanese citizens who stated that Taiwan should avoid the fate of Ukraine by agreeing to reunification with no fight if China threatens to invade Taiwan. He expressed that the Taiwanese who advocate for surrender while still enjoying the free and democratic life of Taiwanese policies and the benefits and treatment provided by its government should give up everything in Taiwan now and defect to China. He further stated that even if countries around the world did not provide Taiwan substantial support if conflict arises, Taiwan should still have the determination to defend itself.[10]
Other politicians
[edit]In addition to the official positions of political parties, there were also political figures or individual members of political parties whose words and actions resulted in public discussion or criticism.
Annette Lu
[edit]In April 2022, former Taiwanese Vice President Annette Lu released her book entitled "Peace. Justice. Protect Taiwan" (Chinese: "和平．公義．保台灣") which describes the invasion while attempting to show readers the world the cruelty and stupidity of war, while suggesting that there are some people who are proverbially fanning the flames of conflict. Despite this message, no passages in the book condemned Russia, and no passages offered affirmation to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. As a result, the passage was criticized by some members of the Green Party.[11][12]
Among them, Green Party politician Huang Pengxiao questioned if, based on her arguments, that those who resisted the Nazis during World War II should also be called destroyers of peace. Huang Pengxiao also questioned her advocacy of theories that show suspicion to the United States' support of Taiwan, arguing that the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang were effectively the same with regards to their approach to Cross-strait relations.[11][12]
In addition, Annette Lu announced that she would hold a "Peace and Love Taiwan March" in May 2022 to express her anti-war message to Commander-in-Chief Tsai Ing-wen. Taiwanese Representative to Germany Shieh Jhy-wey retorted that the reason why he opposed the war in Ukraine was not to communicate any intentions to Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, arguing that such conversations were fundamentally between China and Russia. Shieh also stated that such "so-called" pacifists would end up causing the unjust consequences of victims being scrutinized while perpetrators had their deeds covered up.[13]
Liang Wenjie
[edit]On April 8, 2022, Taipei City Councilor Liang Wen-jie posted a picture of the "Free Hong Kong Center" on Facebook, to which a Ukrainian soldier responded by expressing his gratitude to Hong Kong and Taiwan. However, Liang questioned why he should thank Hong Kong, saying "it's weird to thank Hong Kong".[14]
Afterwards, a Hong Kong netizen responded to questions, saying that citizens of Hong Kong had spoken out about the suffering of Ukraine and its citizens and had donated money to Ukraine, while expressing criticism of Liang's remarks. After this, Liang updated his statement, mentioning the disparate attitudes between the Hong Kong government and the Hong Kong people, and apologized to his Hong Kong friends who fought against autocratic aggression and for the good of democracy.[14]
Public support for Ukraine
[edit]Taipei 101 was specially lit in the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag to show solidarity with the nation and people of Ukraine. In addition, at the Kaohsiung Lantern Festival and the Tainan Lantern Festival, the organizers displayed two colors of blue and yellow to represent the colors of the Ukrainian flag.[15]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Storm.mg (2022-02-26). "台灣燈會聲援烏克蘭 黃藍國旗色光束映照高雄衛武營-風傳媒". www.storm.mg (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2024-08-09.
- ^ "台灣成功撤僑中國人還在等！中網民狂酸：該不會要蹭人家車吧？". Liberty Times Net. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ "趙少康稱小國別刺激大國是烏俄給台灣的啟示 張雅琴：叫你舔就舔？ | 政治". Newtalk新聞 (in Chinese). 2022-02-25. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
- ^ Lu, Yanting (2 March 2022). "烏克蘭意志令人感動 翁章梁捐出一個月所得". China Times. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ "〈譴責俄羅斯 聲援烏克蘭 面對威權威脅 台灣民心應團結堅定〉". Facebook. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
- ^ "「烏克蘭人民已經選擇了民主。但民主是脆弱的。民主制度無法自己捍衛自己，保衛民主需要公民意志，需要每個人的承諾。若沒有捍衛民主的人民，就不會有民主。」". Facebook. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
- ^ "【從烏克蘭抗俄，看中共文宣戰吹破的牛皮 】". Facebook. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
- ^ "【從烏克蘭抗俄，看中共文宣戰吹破的牛皮 】". Facebook. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
- ^ "【真理就是防衛我們的土地和國家】". Facebook. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
- ^ "見俄國侵烏就想投降中國「被統一」 網紅怒嗆：這些台灣人瘋了！ | 政治". Newtalk新聞 (in Chinese). 2022-02-26. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
- ^ a b "何不乾脆加入國民黨？！黃澎孝批呂秀蓮「烏俄觀點」論調像極國共兩黨 | 政治". Newtalk新聞 (in Chinese). 2022-04-05. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
- ^ a b 精選轉載 (2022-04-07). "呂秀蓮不敢譴責俄羅斯，卻暗示烏克蘭不該抵抗侵略，愈來愈和國共「心意相通」". TNL The News Lens 關鍵評論網 (in Chinese). Retrieved 2024-08-09.
- ^ "謝志偉再轟呂秀蓮 2面向抓出呂貼文的「中俄論述」". Liberty Times Net. 6 April 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ a b "這位烏克蘭軍人謝謝台灣是對的，謝謝香港很奇怪。". Facebook. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
- ^ "101、高雄燈會打「藍黃亮光」挺烏克蘭 佳娜、貝娜IG限動謝蔡總統". Yahoo News (in Chinese). 2022-02-27. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
