Taiwan steps up Ukraine involvement amidst China’s neglect

Taiwan has stepped up its quiet diplomatic engagement with local officials in Ukraine following Beijing's continued lukewarm support for Kyiv after Russia's invasion.

Taipei, unlike Beijing, has no official relations with Kyiv; trade and travel ties with Ukraine are technically conducted through Taiwan's diplomatic office in Moscow, whose work covers Russia and 11 former Soviet republics, according to Newsweek.

The democratic island—the subject of a decades-old territorial claim by China—was quick to side with Ukraine and the West against Russia's attack in February. It appears to have seen an opportunity to expand its voice in Eastern Europe, with Joseph Wu, Taiwan's foreign minister, leading the diplomatic charge.

On Twitter on Monday, he shared details of "an emotional call" with Anatoliy Fedoruk, mayor of Bucha, the scene of what Wu called "some of the worst war crimes" committed by Russia's forces. Taiwan pledged $500,000 to help rebuild the Ukrainian town, its foreign ministry said.

It followed recent calls with Serhii Dumenko, head of Ukraine's Orthodox church, to announce a $1.2 million donation; and with Ihor Terekhov, Kharkiv mayor, to provide $2 million in aid.

On June 15 Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi thanked Taiwan for $800,000 in funds for medical equipment. Similar messages of gratitude have come from individual Ukrainian lawmakers.

The impetus for Taiwan's increasingly public engagement with local authorities in Ukraine comes from civil society. In light of what many on the island see as territorial conquest by the Kremlin, the Taiwanese public has shown overwhelming sympathy for Ukrainians in the 17 weeks since the invasion began.

In March, a relief fund backed by Taiwan's government raised nearly 1 billion New Taiwan dollars ($33.65 million) in a month. The donations, which were in addition to hundreds of tons of medical supplies sent to Europe, went to Ukraine and its neighbours, which were receiving millions of refugees.

Taiwanese officials, including Wu, continue to speak of Ukraine's resistance as something of an inspiration for the island's public, which is girding itself for a similar fight in the coming decades.

China, meanwhile, has hedged its position on the crisis since the beginning, refusing to condemn Russia while not openly backing Ukraine either.

Beijing announced two batches of humanitarian assistance for Ukraine in March, totalling 15 million Chinese yuan ($2.24 million). Its tepid response is very much reflective of its vital geopolitical relationship with Russia, the only major power to side with China in its growing rivalry with the West in general and the United States in particular.

In May at Davos, Zelensky said he was "satisfied with this status quo," in which China refrained from any steps for or against Ukraine. "That is better than helping Russia," he said.