The defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the civil war to the Communists, who set up the People’s Republic of China.
Taiwan’s government strongly opposes China’s territorial claims. Tsai says Taiwan is an independent state called the Republic of China, which remains Taiwan’s official name.
All security and military units “must raise their surveillance and early warning of military developments around the Taiwan Strait,” Tsai told a meeting of the working group on the Ukraine crisis set up by her National Security Council.
Taiwan and Ukraine are fundamentally different in terms of geostrategy, geography and international supply chains, she added, in details of the meeting provided by her office.
“But in the face of foreign forces intending to manipulate the situation in Ukraine and affect the morale of Taiwanese society, all government units must strengthen the prevention of cognitive warfare launched by foreign forces and local collaborators,” it cited Tsai as saying.
The statement did not mention China by name, but the country is the most significant military threat that Taiwan faces.
Tsai has expressed “empathy” for Ukraine’s situation because of the military threat the island faces from China.
