Taiwan military ordered to be combat-ready from outside disruptions
Categories: FOREIGN COUNTRIES
Taiwan military has been ordered by President Tsai Ing-wen to stay ready in case of disruption by ‘outside force’ amid the Ukraine crisis.Taiwan is nervous that Beijing may take advantage of a distracted West to ramp up pressure on the island.The government, always on alert to what they view as Chinese provocations, last month set up a Ukraine working group under the National Security Council. “We should continue to strengthen the combat readiness of our forces in the Taiwan Strait to ensure our safety,” Tsai said.She described Taiwan and Ukraine as "fundamentally different in terms of geostrategy, geographical environment, and the importance of international supply chains," referring to the island's status as a major plank in the global economy, especially semiconductors."China may think about using military action against Taiwan at any moment, and we need to be prepared for that," he told Britain's ITV News. Speaking in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying dismissed any link between the issues of Ukraine and Taiwan."Taiwan is not Ukraine," she said. "Taiwan has always been an inalienable part of China. This is an indisputable legal and historical fact."British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday that if Western nations failed to fulfil their promises to support Ukraine's independence, it would have damaging consequences worldwide, including for Taiwan. Taiwan, which rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, has lived under the threat of Chinese invasion since the defeated Republic of China government fled to the island in 1949 after losing a civil war to the Communists.