Taiwan yesterday announced that it would join the US and other countries in imposing sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, but did not immediately provide details.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the nation would join international economic sanctions to compel Moscow to halt its military aggression against Ukraine and to restart peaceful dialogue among all parties concerned as soon as possible.
The government strongly condemns Russia’s decision to start a war in contravention of the UN Charter by invading Ukraine and occupying Ukrainian territory by force, the ministry said in a statement.
Photo: Hung Jui-chin, Taipei Times
“This action has jeopardized regional and global peace and stability,” the ministry said. “It also poses the most serious threat and challenge to the rules-based international order and system of international laws that maintain and protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries.”
As a member of the global democratic alliance, Taiwan “staunchly defends the core universal values of freedom, democracy, the rule of law and human rights,” the ministry said.
Taiwan would continue to coordinate closely with the US and other like-minded countries to adopt appropriate measures to free Ukraine from the horrors of war, and quickly restore peace and stability to the region and the world, it said.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said Taiwan would join international sanctions because “Russia undermined regional peace by invading Ukraine, which has drawn condemnation from around the world.”
Taiwan strongly condemns Russia’s aggression, Su told reporters at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
“We will impose sanctions [on Russia] following other democratic countries,” Su said.
Foreign media reported earlier this week that the government was considering restricting exports of strategic goods to Russia.
Su’s announcement came a day after the Kremlin launched an invasion in Ukraine by land, sea and air in what Russian President Vladimir Putin said was a “special military operation” to achieve the “demilitarization and de-Nazification of Ukraine.”
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) played down concerns that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could trigger a similar crisis in Asia, and warned against any efforts to use the situation in Europe to sow panic in Taiwan.
Tsai said Putin damaged global stability and breached Ukraine’s sovereignty.
“I want to stress that the situation in Ukraine and in the Taiwan Strait are fundamentally different, not only because of the natural barrier of the Taiwan Strait, but also Taiwan’s geopolitical and strategic status,” she said in a speech in Tainan yesterday morning.
She also warned the public to be wary of any “external forces” using misinformation about Ukraine to cause panic about a possible threat to Taiwan.
Tsai characterized an offer by Beijing to evacuate Taiwanese from Ukraine as “cognitive warfare.”
The ministry said the offer was a “disgusting” attempt by Beijing to use the crisis in Ukraine for political propaganda in an effort to discredit Taipei.
The ministry said it has records of 33 Taiwanese in Ukraine.
Earlier yesterday, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said: “Taiwan will review exports to Russia strictly based on the Wassenaar Arrangement.”
“We will talk to allies about other sanctions,” she added.
Separately, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it is fully committed to complying with new export control rules.
“TSMC complies with all applicable laws and regulations and is fully committed to complying with the new export control rules announced,” it said in a statement. “The company also has a rigorous export control system in place, including a robust assessment and review process to ensure export control restrictions are followed.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
RSS