On April 4, Taipei coffee wholesaler Jack Yao (姚冠均) passed the Ukrainian army’s screening process and began transporting supplies and evacuating those injured on the front lines of Ukraine’s war against Russia.
Yao is one of about 10 Taiwanese volunteers in Ukraine serving in logistics roles or as members of the International Legion of Territorial Defense.
Yao, whose only time with the army was during his mandatory military service in Taiwan, said the soldiers he is helping jokingly tell him there is a 95 percent chance he will not make it back home.
Photo: CNA
His said his response is always the same: “Ukraine is a good place to die.”
As to what compelled him to put his life on the line for a foreign country, Yao said that he wanted to help because “what happened to Ukraine could very well happen in Taiwan.”
“Before we ask others for help [if a cross-strait war breaks out], we should be able to offer help to them ... first. That is the point I want to make,” he said.
Originally, Yao thought most Ukrainians knew little about Taiwan, but he said most of the soldiers he has met understood the threat Taiwan faces from China.
Taiwan’s donation of medical supplies and funding to Ukraine had also significantly lifted the country’s visibility among Ukrainians, he added.
The troops Yao is tasked with supporting are responsible for carrying out high-risk close-combat reconnaissance missions.
The mood among the soldiers before they embark on a mission is always tense, as many know they might not make it back alive, he said.
“Someone you were just talking and smoking with, they head off to the front lines — and the next thing you know they are gone,” he said.
Yao said he realized after serving two months in Ukraine that those who return safely and give those on sentry duty a chance to smoke, go to the bathroom or take a nap are heroes just as those who die on the battlefield are.
He said his family understood why he volunteered, and he keeps in contact with them when he has Internet access.
However, he does not wish to return home, even though he is risking his life every day.
“One cannot just sever the bonds of brotherhood I’ve made with soldiers here,” Yao said.
Asked about what lessons Taiwan can learn from Ukraine, Yao said Taiwanese should be trained and prepared to respond to a possible Chinese invasion.
Quoting ancient Chinese strategist Sun Tzu (孫子), Yao said “the art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy’s not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him.”
“Few expected the Russians to come,” he added.
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