By Alessia Donzello / March 28, 2022
Taiwan – There has been speculation since the invasion of Ukraine that Beijing might be inspired to assault Taiwan.
Today, the Russia-Ukraine war has started its 33rd day of war and during this month, Xi Jinping has been carefully studying every single move and result of this conflict, since he shows similar interests as Putin’s. Russia’s many failures, and Moscow’s struggle to control Ukraine against a fierce and highly motivated resistance, are tough meat for Xi Jinping to chew on.
Some people argue that the scenarios are the same, but many experts stress that comparing them is not 100% exact, since Taiwan is not a state. However, what brings them together is that Ukraine and Taiwan are two liberal democracies fighting against two threatening, autocratic neighbors.
Quite the opposite with Beijing, Taipei has highly criticized Russia for invading and destroying Ukraine and its people. Not only the Taiwanese government has made its voice heard defending democracy, but it has also imposed serious sanctions against Russia, including export restrictions on $20 million worth of semiconductors, and has banned all Russian banks from the SWIFT international payments system.
It can be noticed that Taiwan considers defending Ukraine like a mission to advocate democracy- a value for which the government and its people have been fighting for many years. Moreover, in the last weeks, the Taiwanese people have been marching against war in every major city on the island.
The response to a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be quite different and it virtually depends on whether the U.S. and other countries commit troops to Taipei’s defense — an act that appears likely but is not effectively guaranteed. In fact, the U.S. does not have a military treaty with Taiwan, nor do the two countries even hold formal diplomatic ties.