Taiwan and China keep eyes on Ukraine No. 1
(to be continued in No. 2 )
This time I would like tentatively to share the insights of Mr. Michael Mazza, a nonresident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he analyzes US defense policy in the Asia-Pacific region, Chinese military modernization, cross–Taiwan Strait relations, and Korean Peninsula security.
His theme is:
Taiwan and China keep eyes on Ukraine. They both want to see whether the United States will step up and lead.
Does what is happening in Ukraine matter much for Taiwan?
It depends on whom you ask.
“There’s no question that China is watching the crisis in Ukraine really closely,” says NBC News reporter Dan De Luce. “And if Russia succeeds in seizing Ukraine, Chinese leaders could see that as a green light to go after Taiwan.”
Alternatively, Kharis Templeman, an expert on Taiwan at the Hoover Institution, argues that linking the fates of Ukraine and Taiwan is “lazy analysis.”
The truth is likely somewhere in the middle.
This should come as little surprise given that Taiwan’s government has set up a task force on the crisis in Eastern Europe.
As Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan’s representative to the United States, told NBC News, “Like everyone else in the world, we are watching the situation with much concern and anxiety. . . . I think it’s pretty clear to all of us around the world that those undermining stability are China and Russia.”
But why is Taiwan watching so closely?
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