Taiwan president promises one month’s salary to aid humanitarian relief efforts for Ukraine

Taiwan’s top government officials, including president Tsai Ing-wen, vice president William Lai and premier Su Tseng-chang, will each donate a month’s salary to assist humanitarian relief efforts in war-torn Ukraine.

Ms Tsai announced her plans during a meeting of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party on Wednesday, in which she said Taiwan and the rest of the world was moved by the determination of Ukrainians battling the invasion from Russia.

Ms Tsai said the forces of global democracy supporting Ukraine are growing stronger and reiterated Taipei’s support to Ukraine.

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

The salaries of the three top most Taiwanese leaders would be in addition to the first batch of aid sent by Taiwan, in the form of 27 tonnes of medical supplies.

The Taiwanese government has expressed growing “empathy” for the Ukrainians, who have been under attack from Russian forces for the past six days, because it faces a similar military threat from Beijing.

Taipei has stepped up its military surveillance and alertness, remaining cautious of China’s movements amid the Ukraine crisis as Beijing claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has vowed to take control one day — using force if necessary.

The salaries of Ms Tsai, Mr Lai and Mr Su will be transferred into the bank account of a disaster relief fund it has initiated for Ukraine.

Reuters cited a source that said Ms Tsai’s monthly salary was around T$400,000 (£10,712).

Taiwan’s foreign ministry said it has asked its embassy in Warsaw and the Polish government to help distribute the funds and conduct humanitarian work for Ukrainian refugees.

On Wednesday, former Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen led a delegation to Taiwan to meet Ms Tsai and said it reflected “support for the United States’ strong partnership with Taiwan”.

This comes as Taiwan has joined western allies in condemning Russia’s invasion and also announced it would join other countries in blocking Russian banks from the Swift international payments system.

The action was largely symbolic as Taiwan’s own trade with the country is minimal.

“I hope that our compatriots, as well as all our party partners in public office, can fully respond to this action and firmly express to the world that Taiwan stands with Ukraine, and Taiwan stands with democracy and freedom,” Ms Tsai said.

Taiwan has, however, also pointed out that its situation with China is “fundamentally different” from Ukraine and said comparisons should not be drawn as they could cause panic among its people.

Meanwhile, China, which had earlier fallen short of condemning ally Russia’s actions, has said it is “extremely concerned” for the Ukrainian people.

The Asian giant said it “deplores the outbreak of conflict between Ukraine and Russia”, in the first such statement made by the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on its website on Wednesday.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi also acknowledged the conflict as a “war” for the first time, days after a government spokesperson refused to call it an “invasion”, dubbing the term a “western reference” instead.

Beijing is, however, yet to announce aid for Ukraine.

The UN has estimated more than 18 million people will need humanitarian assistance as the war continues as more than half a million Ukrainians were forced to flee the country.