TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) on Friday offered to hold talks with Ukraine to crack down on sanctions evasion after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky cited Taiwan as a source of missile components used by Russia, Reuters reported.
Since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Taiwan, a major semiconductor producer, has tightened export controls on high-tech goods and joined Western-led sanctions aimed at preventing military use by Moscow.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, Zelensky said Russia could not produce missiles without critical components sourced from China, Europe, the US, and Taiwan, according to excerpts published on his website.
In an X post on Friday, Lai responded that Taiwan has long supported Ukraine through humanitarian aid and coordinated sanctions. He welcomed further information-sharing to “clamp down on illegal third-country transshipment and concealed end-use.”
The president added that Taiwan was willing to strengthen controls on goods routed through third countries to prevent them from reaching Russia. Any assistance to the aggressor or violations of export controls were unacceptable, he added.
In a separate interview, Lai reiterated his stance, adding that after the war ends, Taiwan is willing to join European and US allies in rebuilding Ukraine, per CNA.
Taiwan said in November it was revising export controls to align with the Wassenaar Arrangement on weapons non-proliferation, although Taiwan is not a signatory. There has been no publicly acknowledged direct contact between Taiwan and Ukraine.
