Envoy: Taiwan learns from the Ukraine war

WASHINGTON (AP) — Taiwan’s top envoy to the U.S. said in an interview Friday that her self-ruled island has learned lessons from Ukraine’s war that would help it deter any attack by China or defend itself if invaded.

One of the most important lessons is to do more to prepare both military reservists as well as civilians for the type of all-of society fight that the Ukrainians are engaging in against Russia.

“Everything we’re doing now is to prevent the pain and suffering of the tragedy of Ukraine from being repeated in our scenario in Taiwan,” Bi-khim Hsiao, Taiwan’s envoy to Washington, told The Associated Press.

“So ultimately, we seek to deter the use of military force. Hsiao stated that even in the worst case scenario, it is important to be more prepared.

Hsiao spoke at the tranquil, over 130-year-old hilltop home that Taiwan uses to host official functions in Washington. She spoke on a range trade, diplomatic and military issues between Taiwan and the USA that were shaped by China’s growing rivalries.

After a year of increased tensions with China, the interview was conducted after the Chinese launched ballistic missiles against Taiwan. The Chinese also temporarily suspended all dialogue with the U.S. following Nancy Pelosi’s August visit to Taiwan.

Hsaio answered the question of whether Kevin McCarthy, the new House Speaker, should fulfill his earlier promise to Taiwan. Hsaio said, “That will be his choice. But I think ultimately the people of Taiwan have welcomed visitors from around the world.”

Beijing’s leadership, she added, “has no right to decide or define how we engage with the world.”

China claims Taiwan, the island that split from China in 1949 after a civil war. The decades-old threat of invasion by China of the self-governed island has sharpened since China cut off communications with the island’s government in 2016. After Taiwanese voters elected a government Beijing suspected of wanting Taiwan to be independent, that was 2016.

Washington is a strong supporter of Taiwan’s self rule.

For decades, the U.S. government has kept it a secret that the U.S. military would defend Taiwan if China invades. China’s military shows of force after Pelosi’s visit had some in Congress suggesting it was time for the U.S. to abandon that policy, known as “strategic ambiguity,” and to instead make clear Americans would fight alongside Taiwan.

Hsiao was not able to answer questions regarding Friday’s calls.

“It has preserved the status quo for decades, or I should say it has preserved peace,” she said.

Meanwhile, after watching the Ukrainians’ successful hard-scrabble defense against invading Russian forces, Taiwan realizes it needs to load up on Javelins, Stingers, HIMARS and other small, mobile weapons systems, Hsiao said. She stated that some of these were agreed upon by the Americans and Taiwanese.

Some security think tanks accuse the U.S. — and the defense industry — of focusing too much of the nation’s billions of dollars in arms deals with Taiwan on advanced, high-dollar aircraft and naval vessels. Security analysts suggest that China’s powerful military could destroy these targets from the beginning of any attack against Taiwan.

Taiwan is pushing to make sure that a shift to grittier, lower-tech weapon supplies for Taiwanese ground forces “happens as soon as possible,” Hsaio said. Even with the U.S. and other allies pouring billions of dollars worth of such weapons into Ukraine for the active fight there, straining global arms stocks, ”we are assured by our friends in the United States that Taiwan is a very important priority,” she said.

Taiwan President TsaiIngwen said last month that his government will increase defense spending and extend compulsory military service to men. Hsiao did not address Friday’s report by Nikkei Asia that U.S. National Guard personnel had started training in Taiwan. He said that Taiwan was looking at ways to partner with the Guard to improve training.

She said that the lessons from Ukraine have been a lesson for the U.S. as well as other allies, and highlighted the importance of an allied united stand to defend threatened democracies.

“It’s critical to send a consistent message to the authoritarian leaders that force is never an option … force will be met by a strong international response, including consequences,” Hsiao said.

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