Taiwan offers talks with Ukraine on weapons sanctions-busting

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 Ukraine 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 in 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”, showed excerpts published on the Ukraine president’s 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 colour of Ukraine’s flag.

Lai said “there have been young Taiwanese who have sacrificed their lives to defend freedom in Ukraine,” referring to volunteer soldiers who have 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 in Taipei later on Friday, Lai said he welcomed Zelenskiy to pass on 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,” Lai added.

Reuters could not reach the Ukraine presidential office for comment outside of office hours.

In November, Taiwan said it was revising export controls to comply with the Wassenaar Arrangement, an international agreement aimed at preventing weapons proliferation, though diplomatically isolated Taiwan is not a signatory.

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 only has formal diplomatic relations with Beijing, not Taipei.

Taiwan and Ukraine do not have de facto embassies in each other’s capitals, and Taiwanese humanitarian aid to Ukraine has mostly been coordinated by Taiwan’s diplomatic offices in central and eastern Europe.

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.

Late last year, a senior Taiwanese military officer told a forum in Poland that if Russia defeats Ukraine it would embolden China in its behaviour towards Taiwan and that Taipei hoped Kyiv emerged victorious.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Christopher Cushing)