‘If there is a diplomatic and preventive route in Taiwan, it must be used’

The president of Ukraine, Volodímir Zelenski, assured this Saturday, in a digital intervention in a security forum in Singapore, that “if there is a diplomatic and preventive route in Taiwan, it must be used“to stop a hypothetical invasion of China, a partner of Russia.

Zelensky, speaking by videoconference from a secret location in Ukraine at the Shangri-La Dialogue, the Asia-Pacific’s largest annual security forum, stressed that “no one benefits from wars apart from certain political leaders.”

Without referring to Beijing directly, the Ukrainian president, whose country was invaded by Russia on February 24, gave the example of Ukraine so that “the world always supports any preventive action”in a forum in which the possibility of a Chinese attack on Taiwan has dominated much of the talks.

(You can read: China ‘will not hesitate to start a war’ over Taiwan).

The day before, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned in his opening speech at the forum that “East Asia can become Ukraine“, while the shadow of a conflict in Taiwan, a self-governed island whose sovereignty is claimed by Beijing and which Washington would defend in principle, is looming in the region.

“Diplomatic solutions are needed to support countries that need help. We must not leave anyone behind, at the mercy of other more powerful countries”Zelensky responded when asked if he agreed with Kishida in the round of questions after his speech.

The Ukrainian president advocated diplomacy before the conflict, “not when there are already thousands of dead”, citing as an example what happened to his country, besieged by Russian troops. In that case, “it is too late to argue, the world must put Russia in its place, and its place is on its territory“, added the Ukrainian leader.

Zelensky said he believes his army is making gains in some of the Russian-occupied areas, such as Zaporizhia in the south and Kharkiv, the northeastern region whose capital is the country’s second-largest city.

(We recommend you read: Boris Johnson against death sentence for British in Donetsk).

In his speech this Saturday at the forum in Singapore, Zelensky sought areas of common understanding with the audience -made up of hundreds of representatives and defense chiefs from 40 countries, without confirmed assistance from Russia-, saying: “I am sure that in some From the examples I pointed out (on the invasion of Ukraine) they can find something important that they have an interest in preserving, like their culture or resources, which they don’t want anyone to squander.”

The Russian-generated war, he added, “it is not only important in Europe, but globally, as it is an affront to international law and an attempt to return to the 19th century“.

The parallel between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a similar Chinese attack on Taiwan was also used on Saturday by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who delivered a speech at the forum today.

Austin, who yesterday had his first face-to-face meeting with Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe -who will speak tomorrow at the Dialogue-, used the war in Ukraine to illustrate what happens when a power “with an imperialist desire” transgresses international norms , dissuading China from doing the same to Taiwan. A line of thought that was echoed by other participants in the forum, who fervently applauded Zelensky after his intervention.

(You may also be interested in reading: How many inhabitants does China have in 2022?).

The Indonesian Defense Minister, Prabowo Subianto, declared for his part in a panel hours before: “We are surrounded by friendly countries, but the war in Ukraine has shown Indonesia that it cannot take its security for granted.“.

EFE