‘Taiwan stands with Ukraine’: President Tsai pledges month’s pay for relief efforts

President Tsai Ing-wen, her vice-president and premier will each donate a month’s salary to support aid work in the stricken nation

Taiwan stands with Ukraine, and Taiwan stands with democracy and freedom, says Tsai

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The Taipei 101 skyscraper in the Taiwanese capital is lit up in the colours of the Ukrainian flag on February 28. Photo: Reuters

Published: 5:32pm, 2 Mar 2022Updated: 1:08pm, 9 Mar 2022

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, Vice-President William Lai and Premier Su Tseng-chang will each donate a month’s salary towards humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine, as its fight to repel a Russian military invasion entered a seventh day.

The war has generated widespread sympathy in Taiwan for Ukraine’s people, due to the threat the self-ruled island says it faces on a daily basis from mainland China. Beijing views Taiwan as its own territory and has stepped up military pressure to assert those claims.

Tsai, whose government this week send its first batch of aid in the form of 27 tonnes of medical supplies, told a meeting of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party that the determination of Ukraine’s people had moved the world and Taiwan’s people as well.

The forces of global democracy supporting Ukraine are growing stronger, Tsai said.

“As a member of the global partners of democracy, Taiwan is not absent, and we fully support Ukraine.”

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation”.

The Taiwanese foreign ministry will provide details of a dedicated bank account into which Tsai, Lai and Su will each donate a month’s salary, the president said.