President Voices Support For Ukraine, Reinforces Defensive Focus

President Tsai Ing-wen tweets: "Taiwan strongly condemns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine & violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty. Our government will continue to monitor the situation & respond as appropriate, while strengthening our defenses against cognitive warfare & disinformation operations."

• Tsai's comments come as focus in Taiwan is trained on the Western reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Taiwan has a more formalised security relationship with the West, notably the United States in the form of a law that requires the US to ensure Taiwan can defend itself.
• However, there is likely to prove some concern in Taipei that the level of sanctions implemented on the Russian gov't by the US, EU and other Western nations fall well short of the level required to prompt President Putin to change tack or to put his continued leadership in question.
• In recent months the number of PLA incursions into Taiwan's Air Defence Identification Zone have increased notably, raising concerns for the pro-independence Taiwanese gov't.