By Ben Blanchard
TAIPEI, Jan 23 (Reuters) – Taiwan President Lai Ching-te on Friday offered talks with Ukraine to crack down on sanctions-busting after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy name-checked the island as a source of illicit missile components.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, semiconductor powerhouse Taiwan has successively updated export controls to stop high-tech goods being used for military purposes, and has joined wide-ranging Western-led sanctions against Moscow.
Speaking in Davos on Thursday, Zelenskiy said Russia would not be able to produce missiles without “critical components sourced from China, Europe, the United States, and Taiwan”, according to excerpts published on his website.
Responding on his X account in English, Lai said Taiwan has long worked with global partners to “staunchly support Ukraine through humanitarian aid & coordinated sanctions”.
“We welcome further exchanges of information with President @ZelenskyyUa to further clamp down on illegal 3rd country transshipment & concealed end-use,” he said, posting a picture of orchids in the colours of Ukraine’s flag.
PLEDGE TO STRENGTHEN CONTROLS
Lai said young Taiwanese volunteer soldiers had died fighting against Russia.
“We remain clear: any assistance to the aggressor or violations of int’l embargoes & export control regulations are unacceptable. We pray for peace to be restored to Ukraine soon.”
Speaking to reporters later, Lai said he hoped Zelenskiy would pass any information to Taiwan about sanctions busting:
“We are willing to strengthen controls on goods that are routed through third countries while concealing their final destination, to prevent them from entering Russia and to protect Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s presidential office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Taiwan’s economy ministry said no chips or machine tools had been exported to Russia since April 2024, and the government would prevent relevant components from going to Russia.
In November, Taiwan said it was revising export controls to comply with the Wassenaar Arrangement, an international agreement aimed at preventing weapons proliferation.
While senior Taiwan officials have spoken directly with some Ukrainian city mayors, there has been no publicly acknowledged direct contact between the two governments.
Like most countries, Ukraine has formal diplomatic relations only with Beijing, not Taipei.
Taiwan has compared the Russian invasion of Ukraine to China’s military threat against an island it claims as its own. Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Kevin Liffey)
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