China says Ukraine crisis completely different from Taiwan claims

China has said that Taiwan is “not Ukraine” and it has always been an “inalienable” part of the mainland. This is an indisputable legal and historical fact, Foreign ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying, said on Wednesday. The issue of Taiwan is one left over from the civil war but China’s integrity should never have been compromised and never has been compromised, Hua added. Beijing claims sovereignty over self-ruled and democratic Taiwan and has never ruled out the use of force, if required, to unify it.

Earlier in the day, referring to China, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said “external forces” were “attempting to manipulate the situation in Ukraine and affect the morale in Taiwan’s society”, and urged the government to be “more vigilant against cognitive warfare”. Tsai said Taiwan and Ukraine are fundamentally different in terms of geostrategy, geography and international supply chains. “But 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,” the report quoted Tsai as saying.

In response, Hua said any comparison between Ukraine and Taiwan showed a lack of the most basic understanding of the history of the Taiwan issue. Hua said those accusing China of contradicting its stance on respecting national sovereignty and territorial integrity in relation to Russia’s moves towards Ukraine were “either driven by ulterior motives or deliberately distorting or misinterpreting China”.“To correctly and objectively understand the Ukraine situation and seek a rational and peaceful solution, it is necessary to understand the merits of the Ukraine issue and properly address relevant countries’ legitimate security concerns on the basis of equality and mutual respect,” Hua said.