President Tsai responds to developments in Ukraine
On February 23, Presidential Office Spokesperson Xavier Chang (張惇涵) stated that President Tsai Ing-wen and Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) had been briefed by the National Security Council (NSC) and other relevant agencies on the latest developments in Ukraine, following which the president issued four directives in response:
1. Condemn Russia's infringement on Ukrainian sovereignty while calling on all parties to peacefully resolve disputes in a rational manner:
Our government condemns Russia's infringement on Ukraine's sovereignty—infringement which has led to increased tensions on the Russia-Ukraine border, and calls on all parties to continue working peacefully toward a rational resolution to the dispute in order to jointly uphold peace and stability in the region. As a member of the international community, Taiwan is willing to participate in all efforts that contribute to a peaceful resolution of this dispute.
2. Ensure our national security by continuing to strengthen our readiness to respond to military developments in the Taiwan Strait:
Our national security agencies and military remain on top of the current security situation in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region at large. However, our national security agencies and military must ramp up their efforts to monitor and provide early warning of military developments in the Taiwan Strait and surrounding areas, and must continue to strengthen readiness in order to swiftly and effectively respond to any potential developments and ensure our national security.
3. Comprehensively strengthen our response to cognitive warfare and shore up public morale:
In terms of geostrategic factors, geography, and the importance of our role in international supply chains, the situations in Taiwan and Ukraine are fundamentally different. But as external forces attempt to manipulate developments in Ukraine, affecting morale among the people of Taiwan, our government agencies must step up their guard against cognitive warfare from external forces as well as their local collaborators, and must strengthen efforts to clarify disinformation in order to ensure Taiwan's domestic social stability.
4. Continue responding to economic developments while ensuring the stability of our supply of goods, commodity prices, and stock and foreign exchange markets:
To address the international and domestic effects of the situation in Ukraine on energy and food supply, commodity prices, and stock and foreign exchange markets over the short, medium, and long term, our government agencies must continue to monitor developments in global trade, and must assess and strengthen our overall contingency plans in order to ensure the stability of our supply of key goods, commodity prices, and financial markets, so that we can minimize any potential effects of this situation.