Comparing the situations in Taiwan and Ukraine is inappropriate, Taiwanese academics told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting that the conditions the two nations are facing, including their locations as well as their geopolitical and international trade position, are entirely different.
Ukraine has a land border with Russia and is vulnerable to a large-scale land invasion, while Taiwan is separated from China by the Taiwan Strait, Institute for National Defense and Security Research senior analyst Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) told the event hosted by the Association of Chinese Elite Leadership.
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, which has proven to be critical for global supply chains, and shipping routes to Japan through Taiwanese waters ensure that other countries’ national interests overlap with Taiwan’s, Su said.
Photo: CNA
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian economy is focused on agriculture and traditional industry, he said.
Unlike Taiwan, Ukraine does not occupy a “special place” in US politics, and its strategic value is far less pronounced, National Taiwan Normal University professor Fan Shih-ping (范世平) said.
As Taiwan is part of the first island chain, loosing it to China would endanger Guam, Hawaii and even the US west coast, Fan said.
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is crucial to the world, so a Chinese invasion would have a far greater effect on global markets, he added.
The Taiwan issue is well-known in the international community, Fan said, citing as examples British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison mentioning Taiwan when speaking of the Ukraine conflict.
Ukraine became overly reliant on US and NATO promises, as its defense industry fell into disrepair after the 2014 Minsk agreement, he said.
Russia’s goal is regime change in Ukraine, while China’s ambition would be incorporating Taiwan, Cross-Strait Policy Association researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said.
Drawing conclusions from the Ukraine conflict is a logical fallacy, Wu said, denying media reports saying that today’s events in Ukraine would be replicated in Taiwan one day.
Private entities should leave it to the government to make such far-reaching statements, he added.
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
RSS