TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Saturday (April 1) condemned comments by Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova belittling Taiwan’s sovereignty.

Commenting on President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) trip to Guatemala and Belize with two stopovers in the United States, the Russian government official described Taiwan as an unalienable part of China and painted Taiwan-China relations as an internal Chinese affair, adding Beijing had the right to take the necessary measures to safeguard its territorial integrity.

Russia’s attempts to divert international attention from its invasion of Ukraine by criticizing the United States and its allies once again showed that cooperation between the authoritarian regimes in Russia and China pose a threat to international peace and stability and to the rules-based global order, MOFA said.

As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, Russia was not only guilty of a serious violation of the U.N. Charter’s spirit of peace, but also disappointed by seeking excuses for China’s plans for invasion and expansion, according to the MOFA statement.

The ministry described Taiwan as being on the frontline for the defense of democracy, and as continuing to cooperate with other free nations in promoting an open Indo-Pacific as part of a stable and prosperous world.