If Russia defeats Ukraine it would embolden China's moves toward Taiwan and Taipei hopes that Kyiv emerges victorious, a senior uniformed Taiwanese military officer said this week in a rare visit to Europe to attend a security forum.
Taiwan has found an increasingly sympathetic ear in parts of central and eastern Europe since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, even though almost all European countries only maintain formal diplomatic ties with Beijing and not Taipei.
Unlike the US, Europe no longer sells big-ticket defense items to Taiwan, fearful of incurring Beijing's wrath, and open visits to Europe by any Taiwanese military officers are highly unusual.
Photo: Reuters
Addressing the Warsaw Security Forum on Tuesday, Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升), Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence, said the war in Ukraine was being closely watched in Taipei.
"We wish for their victory," he said, in footage streamed online from the event, where he attended in person wearing full military uniform and speaking in English.
"There are many things that we can learn from the Ukrainian theatre that we can elevate for our overall readiness," Hsieh added. "The defeat of Ukraine will signal that China can take more aggression towards Taiwan."
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Monday, it condemned Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung’s (林佳龍) attendance at the same forum saying Taiwan was seeking to exaggerate the China threat.
Hsieh raised the alarm about China and Russia's joint military drills.
"If China moves on Taiwan while Russia increases its offensive in Ukraine, the world could face a two-front geopolitical crisis," he said. "Europe today, you are fighting for your own security. If you help us, we can prevent the possibility of war in the Indo-Pacific."
Taiwan has joined in Western sanctions against Russia and has also been studying how the much smaller Ukrainian military has been able to fight its huge neighbor, drawing lessons for how it could deal with any Chinese attack.
Taiwan has complained for the past five years of increased Chinese military pressure, both war games and also "gray zone" activities that stop short of open combat, but are designed to exert pressure, including cyberattacks and undersea cable sabotage.
Hsieh said Taiwan and Europe could learn from each other.
"We have been dealing with China's gray zone operations for years. There is a tremendous [amount of experience about] how we counter disinformation that we can share with Europe, and also how we can benefit us, but also benefit European nations," he said.
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