Taiwan has become the world’s biggest importer of Russian naphtha, a petroleum derivative used to make chemicals needed for the semiconductor industry, despite the fact that it has joined other sanctions against Russia and considers itself an ally of Ukraine.
In the first half of this year, Taiwan imported US$1.3 billion of Russian naphtha, and average monthly imports reached a level nearly six times higher than the 2022 average, a report published on Wednesday showed. Compared with the first half of last year, Taiwan’s naphtha imports this year increased by 44 percent.
The findings come from a report by the Finnish think tank Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air in collaboration with European, Russian and Taiwanese non-governmental organizations.
Taiwan has elsewhere been reiterating its support for Ukraine. On Sunday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) witnessed the signing of a pact between Taiwan and Ukraine designed to provide aid for underprivileged Ukrainian children.
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Taiwan joined international sanctions against Moscow. It has also imposed export controls to prevent the nation’s high-tech equipment from being used by Russian military.
However, Moscow’s ability to continue with the war is funded in part by energy exports, with billions of dollars coming from Taiwan.
Since February 2022, Taiwan has imported 6.8 million tonnes of Russian naphtha, worth US$4.9 billion, which is equal to 20 percent of Russia’s total exports of the petroleum product.
Naphtha is a crude oil product that is used to make chemicals required for manufacturing semiconductors, electronic components that are the backbone of Taiwan’s economy and which are vital for global industry.
Despite joining other sanctions against Russia, Taiwan, which is overwhelmingly reliant on imports for its energy needs, has not imposed restrictions on purchases of Russian fossil fuels.
Atlantic Council senior fellow Joseph Webster said that revenue from Taiwan’s purchases of Russian naphtha “are not immaterial to the Kremlin’s revenues.”
Taiwan imports about 97 percent of its energy, which experts said was a key vulnerability in the event of a conflict with China.
Many analysts have drawn comparisons between Russia’s designs on Ukraine and China’s plans for Taiwan. The conflict is closely watched in Taiwan and has spurred an interest in civil defense training programs. There is a concern that Beijing’s support for Russia during the war in Ukraine could be reciprocated by Moscow in the event of a Chinese conflict with Taiwan.
However, some analysts said that Taiwan’s purchases of Russian oil should not be over-interpreted.
Even if the money from Taiwan helped to fill the Kremlin’s coffers, “it’s a stretch to think that [Russia] will be willing or able to provide military support to China in the event of increased Chinese pressure on Taiwan,” New Eurasian Strategies Centre foreign policy head John Lough said.
Meanwhile, Webster said: “While Moscow and Beijing seek to absorb Ukraine and Taiwan, respectively, the two authoritarian powers are applying different approaches along different timelines. Moscow’s illegal invasion was a desperate attempt to halt Ukraine’s Western orientation, but Beijing is much more patient and believes time is on its side.”
Sun Hsin-hsuan (孫興瑄), a director at the Environmental Rights Foundation and coauthor of the report, said that “Taiwan cannot afford to ignore the risks created by its growing dependence on Russian fossil fuel,” adding that the reliance “undermines Taiwan’s credibility with democratic allies.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that “all state-owned enterprises have stopped purchasing Russian crude oil and light oil products since 2023,” adding that Taiwan “has long cooperated closely with democratic allies to impose strict high-tech export controls on Russia,” expanding its control list six times to cover “3,300 Russian entities.”
The Ministry of Economic Affairs also said that “all state-owned enterprises stopped buying Russian petroleum starting in 2023.”
However, “light oil is not currently a controlled import item” and private companies are still purchasing light oil from Russia, it added.
The ministry said it would take a closer look at regulations and communicate with Taiwanese industries.
Additional reporting by CFNA
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