TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — There will be global repercussions if the West fails to commit to defending Ukraine’s sovereignty, including for Taiwan, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday (Feb. 19).
Speaking during a security conference in Munich, Germany, Johnson said, "If Ukraine is endangered, the shock will echo around the world. And those echoes will be heard in east Asia — will be heard in Taiwan." The risk of a potential conflict at the Ukrainian border has drastically increased, with Russia having deployed more than 100,000 troops near the border and all diplomatic talks so far having failed.
“We do not fully know what President Putin intends, but the omens are grim," Johnson added.
Analysts have said China is paying close attention to how Western nations are responding to the Russian threat. In a Nikkei op-ed, Min Xipei (裴敏欣), a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, said that if the U.S. does not fulfill its promise to protect Ukraine, it may prompt China to boost its military capabilities to deter the U.S. from defending Taiwan.
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Feb. 18 that a Russian invasion of Ukraine will happen in the coming days. “We believe that they will target Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, a city of 2.8 million innocent people.”
