Taiwan’s intelligence chief says the war in Ukraine has made China “even more cautious” about invading Taiwan. National Security Bureau Director-General Chen Ming-tong told lawmakers on Monday that the Russian invasion has been a considerable wake-up call for Beijing.
Chen says Chinese authorities will be looking at the way the United States has responded to the conflict. Although US forces have not directly intervened, Washington has put in place a wide array of costly economic sanctions against Russia.
Chen points out that the United States is not bound by law to help protect Ukraine, but it is bound by law to help protect Taiwan. If Washington is reacting this strongly to an attack on Ukraine, Chen says, then its reaction to an invasion of Taiwan will surely be more severe.
Chen says Taiwan needs to be “very careful” about the risk of a Chinese invasion. But he says that the Ukraine war has shown Beijing it should not take the prospect of attacking Taiwan lightly.