TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said there is “absolutely no need for China’s overstepping” in response to the Chinese embassy in Ukraine’s inclusion of Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation notification.
CNA reported that MAC Spokesperson Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) had already made plans to safely evacuate Taiwanese in Ukraine long before China issued the emergency notification to its citizens. He added that though China often tries to take advantage of Taiwan during overseas rescue missions, the Taiwan government will always be friendlier and more helpful to the Taiwanese, who do not seek the help of Chinese embassies.
According to a press release, MOFA arranged for a charter bus on Thursday evening (Feb. 24) that left from Kyiv at 10 p.m. for west Ukraine with 13 Taiwanese and their spouses on board. En route, the bus will pick up five more Taiwanese, who had been in close contact with MOFA; the 18 people will be greeted by staff members from the Taipei Representative Office in Poland at the border.
MOFA wrote that before the war broke out in Ukraine, it had already issued eight travel alerts and continuously urged citizens to leave the country. According to MOFA, China’s attempt to evacuate Taiwanese citizens “once again proves the Chinese government’s attempt to sabotage our government’s image and diminish MOFA’s efforts to protect overseas citizens by manipulating political propaganda and spreading false messages.”
“This will only add to our government and people’s resentment,” MOFA added.
Per an earlier report, the Chinese government’s inaction had sent Chinese students in Ukraine into a wave of panic on Thursday. The Chinese embassy had advised students to attach the Chinese flag to their cars when driving as a way to avoid attack by Russian troops.
On Friday (Feb. 25), when the embassy finally decided to evacuate citizens, it called for Chinese citizens to register, saying it was to first “get a sense of how many Chinese citizens truly want to return to China.”
