According to Ukrainian lawmaker Kira Rudik, China has warned Ukraine not to accept any aid from Taiwan. Instead of agreeing to Chinese demands, Rudik noted that no assistance from China was being sent to Ukraine and that it was her responsibility to get as much help for the Ukrainian people as possible in order to save as many from being frozen as she could. With this in mind, Taiwan has donated in excess of $975,000 to the government in Kyiv that they might purchase power generators to take care of the Ukrainian population after Russia’s relentless targeting of civilian infrastructure over the course of the war. Rudik, who has visited Taiwan, says that she looks forward to visiting Taiwan again in graditude for their aid.
For their part, China has consistently defended the stance they have taken regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, namely that it has refused to condemn it nor to join other states in levying sanctions against Putin’s regime. Recently, Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China has indicated that China would be deepening ties with Russia in 2023, and stated that China has “we have consistently upheld the fundamental principles of objectivity and impartiality, without favouring one side or the other, or adding fuel to the fire, still less seeking selfish gains from the situation.”
Despite this statement about not seeking selfish gains as a result of the war, the fact remains that China has made some over the course of the conflict. In the first four months of 2022, trade increased by 25.9% between Russia and China. China also is on track to replace the European Union as Russia’s top economic partner, which has contributed in part to how Russia was able to obtain a federal budget surplus between January and April in spite of the war in Ukraine. Most of all, it is expected that China will be able to purchase commodities from Russia at significant discounts due to how Russia itself has been sanctioned in so many markets, which in turn will give greater leverage over their relationship to China.
Given the relationship China is clearly still attempting to pursue with Russia well after the start of the war in Ukraine, especially as Ukraine itself remains in desperate need of aid for its civilian population, it is unlikely that any future communications by China to turn down aid from Taiwan will be successful.
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