Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, Vice President And Prime Minister Donate Salaries To Help Ukraine

Presiden Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen. (Wikimedia Commons/Presidential Palace)

JAKARTA - Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen announced on Wednesday that she and Vice President William Lai and Prime Minister Su Tseng-chang will each contribute one month's salary to help with humanitarian relief efforts for Ukraine, which is struggling against a Russian invasion.

The war has generated widespread sympathy in Taiwan for the Ukrainian people, because of the threats the island says it faces daily from giant neighbor China. Beijing views Taiwan as its own territory and has stepped up its military pressure to assert the claim.

President Tsai, whose government this week sent the first batch of aid in the form of 27 tonnes of medical supplies, said at a meeting of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, the resolve of the Ukrainian people has moved the world as well as the Taiwanese people.

Russia has called its actions in Ukraine a 'special operation' rather than an invasion. The global democratic power that supports Ukraine is getting stronger, President Tsai said.

"As a global partner member of a democracy, Taiwan is not absent and we fully support Ukraine", he said as reported by Reuters on March 3.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will provide details of bank accounts set up by the Taiwan Disaster Relief Association, for the Ukraine aid donation where President Tsai said she, Lai, and Su will each contribute a month's salary.

A person familiar with the situation told Reuters that Tsai as president received a salary of about T$400,000 Taipei dollars per month.

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said separately it had asked the de facto embassy in Warsaw, the Polish government, and "designated" non-governmental organizations to help distribute funds to help Ukrainian refugees.

Taiwan last week also announced it was joining Western-led sanctions against Russia, even though its own trade with the country is minimal.

"I hope that our comrades, as well as all our party partners in public office, can fully respond to these actions and firmly declare to the world, Taiwan supports Ukraine and Taiwan supports democracy and freedom", President Tsai said.

To note, Taiwan is largely excluded from global organizations such as the United Nations (UN) due to Chinese pressure but aspires to demonstrate Taiwan is a responsible member of the international community, despite diplomatic isolation.