Taiwan says China learning from Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Taiwan’s defense minister said the Chinese military is learning from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the event of carrying out a military attack on the island. However, the minister noted that the Taiwan Strait waterway would make a potential Chinese invasion unlikely to succeed.

Taiwanese defense minister Chiu Kyo-cheng told reporters on the sidelines of parliament in Taipei on Friday last week that the Chinese military has likely learned from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Chiu added that even if Chinese forces were planning a swift military attack, they would still face challenges in trying to capture the island right away as they would have to cross the Taiwan Strait.

“The Russia-Ukraine war has brought great lessons for them…they will definitely seek speed,” Chiu told reporters.

“I’ve said it before – as soon as the guns sound we will keep going to the end. But we absolutely will not provoke,” said Chiu.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has raised speculation that the military conflict would impact China’s mindset on Taiwan, the democratically-governed island that China sees as its territory. Beijing has not ruled out using military force to capture Taiwan and make its democratic government submit to Beijing. China has also been engaging in a pressure campaign through frequent airspace incursions and military drills close to the island.

Taiwan has repeatedly said that only its people get to decide its future. While Taiwan has strongly supported Ukraine, China has stopped short of condemning Russia for the war. Prior to the invasion, Russia and China announced a “no limits” partnership.

Thursday last week, two US officials said that Washington is set to expand the number of US troops training Taiwanese forces. The officials said the Pentagon was expected to increase the current number in the coming months.

According to one of the officials, the exact number of added troops has yet to be determined but it noted that the move was not related to the recent tensions between the United States and China over the Chinese spy balloon that made an incursion over US airspace this month. A Pentagon spokesperson said, “Taiwan remains aligned against the current threat posed by the People’s Republic of China.”