May 31, 2022
No. 137
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Jaushieh Joseph Wu held a videoconference on May 31 with Ihor Terekhov, the Mayor of Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine. Minister Wu expressed support and concern for Ukrainians on behalf of the Taiwanese people and announced that the government of Taiwan would be providing US$2 million to Kharkiv municipality, as well as US$500,000 each to the municipalities of Chernihiv, Mykolaiev, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia, for a total of US$4 million. These funds will be used to rebuild schools and essential infrastructure, restoring severely damaged facilities across Ukraine. This is the second time Foreign Minister Wu has held a videoconference with a prominent Ukrainian mayor; his first call was with the Mayor of Kyiv on April 22. These calls have been helpful in assessing the current situation and needs of these cities.
Foreign Minister Wu expressed sympathies from the Taiwanese people given the great suffering experienced by Ukrainians facing the Russian invasion. Minister Wu said that Taiwan has also faced threats and coercion from China for a long time, and that the government of Taiwan therefore seeks to convey solidarity and support for the people of Ukraine and extend a helping hand in reconstruction efforts. The cities receiving funds this time are all located on the war’s front line in eastern and southern Ukraine. These cities, which have been left devastated by war, are in urgent need of international aid. Minister Wu stated that this timely dispatch of funds from Taiwan will be effective in assisting local governments with swift rebuilding efforts.
Mayor Terekhov pointed out that Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine is an illegal act of war, which has not only harmed the innocent people of Ukraine but also posed a threat to regional and global peace and security. Thanking Taiwan for its love and charitable acts on behalf of the Ukrainian people, he said this prompt financial assistance would not only help children return to school as soon as possible, but also represented the strongest possible display of political support for Ukraine as it seeks to resist authoritarianism and safeguard democracy and freedom. Mayor Terekhov pledged to ensure that Ukraine’s children and citizens understand the extent of Taiwan’s assistance to Ukraine and said that Taiwan is a true friend of his nation. He said he hoped to invite Minister Wu to visit Kharkiv in person after Ukraine’s ultimate victory in the war so that they could exchange views on his city’s reconstruction plans and strengthen Taiwan-Ukraine cooperation and interaction going forward.
Minister Wu thanked Mayor Terekhov for his invitation and, speaking in Ukrainian, said that “Taiwan stands with Ukraine.” He once again expressed Taiwan’s staunch support for Ukraine before giving the floor to representatives of the Ukrainian community in Taiwan to speak with Mayor Terekhov and offer words of encouragement.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterates that in the initial stages of the war, the government of Taiwan promptly condemned the Russian invasion and put in place controls on high-tech exports to Russia and Belarus in line with international sanctions. Only days into the war, the government sent 27 tons of medical supplies for distribution by the Polish government’s Governmental Strategic Reserves Agency to Ukrainian refugees in both Poland and Ukraine. On March 17, Taiwan began shipping 582 tons of humanitarian relief supplies donated by the Taiwanese people to European nations for delivery to Ukraine. In April, the country further donated US$5.8 million raised by Taiwan’s private sector to seven Ukrainian medical institutions, including the Kharkiv Urgent Surgery Institute.
In the three months since Russia invaded Ukraine, Taiwan has reiterated on several occasions its firm opposition to the use of military force or intimidation to unilaterally change the status quo, as well as its support of the rules-based international order. Taiwan will continue to cooperate with like-minded democratic countries to take necessary measures to help Ukraine bring an end to the war at an early date, jointly safeguard regional and global peace, as well as resolutely defend the core values of democracy, freedom, human rights, and the rule of law. (E)