At the end of the year, I visited Taiwan together with other civil society representatives. We met with officials at the National Security Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as with civil society organisations and research centres. We shared Ukraine’s experience — above all, the one gained in the conditions of Russia’s full-scale invasion. At the end of December, for the sixth time in just a few years, China launched large-scale military exercises around Taiwan.
For many Ukrainians, the very name “Taiwan” is primarily associated with Chinese aggression. Similarly — and unfortunately — Ukraine is often perceived abroad: only with a different aggressor and a real war instead of constant intimidation. Taiwanese people, however, see us differently — “in a European way,” through the lens of heroic resistance, not only the ruins of cities and thousands of shattered lives. In the Asian region, with the exception of a handful of countries, such associations are uncommon. And so it would be fair to restore the balance and tell Ukrainians about Taiwan — because we are far closer than it may seem.
From Geopolitics to Radio
The central event of the trip was a two-day seminar organised by our partners at DoubleThink Lab. This organisation specialises in countering disinformation and analysing information operations. That is why, during the seminar, I spoke in particular about how the Kremlin has turned components of everyday life into weapons.
Whether it is the energy sector, or questions of language, history, religion, or art — all are used to serve a strategic objective. For example, the large-scale disinformation campaign in the 2000s alleging that Ukrainians were “stealing Russian gas,” and its escalation into gas blackmail, ultimately helped facilitate the annexation of Crimea, thanks to Russia’s expanded Black Sea Fleet presence.
The Taiwanese audience — which included many young people — listened closely and asked deep, thoughtful questions. Given their, to put it mildly, complicated relationship with China, as well as a very specific domestic political environment, they understand extremely well the problems Russia creates for us in the information sphere. Many disinformation narratives we have heard — and continue to hear — sound strikingly similar in Taiwan. For instance: the West will abandon Taiwan; China will seize it by force; military conscription will extend to both women and men. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Moreover, Taiwanese society also experiences manipulation of language, history, and religion. They know what it means when a powerful state appropriates or openly steals their culture. And finally, even when it comes to corruption, China behaves just as consistently as our enemy does: corruption supposedly “proves” the incapacity of both states to exist independently, and the fight against it is presented as “further evidence” that a stronger external hand must govern these territories.
Living under the constant risk of natural disasters and military aggression, Taiwanese citizens must be ready for a wide range of challenges and able to navigate crisis situations. For example, Taiwan’s government distributes guides explaining what to do in case of a tsunami, typhoon, air-raid alert, or occupation. These guides teach basic cybersecurity skills, first aid, where to find information if communication networks fail, and even how to resist an aggressor. This is something many Ukrainians, unfortunately, had to learn directly during the full-scale invasion.
Still, despite a broad public-awareness campaign and the noticeable “Air Defense Shelter” signs all over Taipei, not all Taiwanese fully understand — or acknowledge — the scale of the threat and the importance of readiness. Some participants at the training, for example, believed that the internet would still work during a blackout, so why would one need a radio? And yet it was through radio that I learned about the liberation of Kherson in November 2022.
Radio matters — both the old-school, battery-powered kind and the one that broadcasts not only music, but meaning. In the Radio Taiwan International museum, this is visible perhaps better than anywhere else: for decades, RTI built bridges between Taiwan and mainland China — intelligence, psychological, and cultural ones.
Radio Taiwan of the 1960s–1980s was popular on the mainland even though it broadcast anti-communist messages and mocked PRC officials.
Through it, Taiwan also transmitted encrypted codes to its agents and explained to Chinese pilots how to defect on the island. And this truly worked on multiple occasions. For example, Wu Rong-gen, a MiG-19 pilot, dreamed not only of receiving the financial reward (and there was one!) for such an operation, but also of singing a duet with Teresa Teng — arguably the most popular Asian singer of her time and, incidentally, a host on the same radio station. Once again, we see: culture is never separate from politics.
Taiwan and Ukraine: Geographically and Politically Distant, Spiritually Close
According to the New Europe Center, after Russia’s invasion, Taiwan became very active in supporting Ukraine. This includes humanitarian assistance (over USD 150 million since 2022). Funds have been allocated to rebuild cities, medical facilities, and energy infrastructure, and to provide technological support for modernising “smart cities.”
Taiwan provides assistance through unofficial and private channels, as well as through Central and Eastern European countries, because it does not have official diplomatic relations with Ukraine. Our country continues to adhere to the One China policy.
Ukrainian diplomats believe that officially recognising Taiwan could create a precedent through which other countries might recognise Crimea as Russian. Moreover, Beijing reacts strongly to attempts by other states to develop official contacts with Taiwan — for example, Japan recently faced protests from China over a delegation of Japanese lawmakers visiting Taipei.
Despite the absence of any formal or informal communication with our government, Taiwan is eager to work with Ukraine and learn from us. The Taiwanese are deeply interested in our wartime experience, drone technologies, challenges on the path to energy resilience, and methods of countering disinformation and influence operations. And, as practice shows, we are much closer than we think. Both Ukrainians and Taiwanese share democratic values. Both face attacks aimed at denying our right to exist, and both have our culture and achievements appropriated by hostile powers. For all these reasons, at the very least, we should stand together.