BEIJING TAIPEI Reuters said on Wednesday that Taiwan is not Ukraine and has always been an inalienable part of China, as Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen called for increased vigilance on military activities in response to the crisis.
The comments came after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned of the danger for Taiwan in a warning last week about the damage to the world if Western nations don't fulfill their promises to support Ukraine's independence.
Chinese forces have stepped up military activity near the self-governing island over the past two years, even though Taiwan has reported no recent unusual maneuvers over Ukraine as a result of tension over Ukraine.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, speaking in Beijing, dismissed any link between the issues of Ukraine and Taiwan.
She said that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Taiwan has always been an intangible part of China. This is an indisputable legal and historical fact. The issue of Taiwan is left over from the civil war but China's integrity should never have been compromised and never compromised, Hua said.
The defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the civil war to the Communists who set up the People's Republic of China.
Taiwan's government opposes China's territorial claims. Tsai says Taiwan is an independent state called the Republic of China, which remains Taiwan's official name.
Tsai told a working group on the Ukraine crisis set up by her National Security Council that all security and military units must raise their surveillance and early warning of military developments around the Taiwan Strait.
She said that Taiwan and Ukraine are fundamentally different in terms of geostrategy, geography and international supply chains.
In the face of foreign forces intending to manipulate the situation in Ukraine and affect the morale of Taiwanese society, all government units must strengthen the prevention of cognitive warfare launched by foreign forces and local collaborators, cited by Tsai.
The statement didn't mention China by name, but the country is the most significant military threat that Taiwan faces.
Tsai expressed empathy for Ukraine's situation because of the military threat the island faces from China.