Is there an ominous parallel between Taiwan and Ukraine?

Xi Jinping has described the ‘reunification’ of China as Beijing’s ‘historical task’

Child holding 'I stand with Ukraine' poster
Showing solidarity with Ukraine in Taipei
(Image credit: Walid Berrazeg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

“Will today’s Ukraine be tomorrow’s Taiwan?” That’s the burning question being asked here in Taipei, said Chen Yun-yu in Central News Agency (Taipei). Both Ukraine and Taiwan are cursed with neighbours with “imperial ambitions” who think nothing of subverting “the rules-based international order” – not to mention “basic principles of right and wrong”. And, like Vladimir Putin with Ukraine, China’s President Xi Jinping has used increasingly strident rhetoric to frighten Taiwan, often describing the “reunification” of China as Beijing’s “historical task”.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up