Taiwan tightens sanctions against Russia to stop arms production

Taiwan has condemned Russia's attack and has already joined Western sanctions, although this is mainly symbolic, as direct trade between the island and Russia is minimal.

Announcing its latest round of sanctions, the Ministry of Economy of Taiwan stated that this step was taken "to fulfill international cooperation and prevent the export of our high-tech goods for military purposes."

The list includes equipment for semiconductor manufacturing, in which Taiwan is a global leader, as well as certain chemicals and medicines, complementing previous measures aimed at the microchip industry.

Taiwan sanctions

The new sanctions correspond to those already announced by the European Union, the United States, and other countries, according to the ministry's statement.

The EU, the U.S., and other countries recently gathered debris from the battlefields in Ukraine and compiled a "common high-priority list" of electronic and mechanical parts and equipment widely used for commercial purposes and could be used for weapon manufacturing.

Applications for export licenses will "in principle" not be approved.

Ukraine's situation has garnered widespread public sympathy in Taiwan because many see parallels between what is happening in this European country and what could happen if China ever uses force to bring the island under Chinese control, which it considers its territory.

According to recent data, over 80% of foreign purchases of goods from Russia for military purposes are now accounted for by China and Hong Kong. Moscow has also established new routes through countries such as Thailand and Malaysia.

Describing the scale of Russia's circumvention of sanctions, the sanctions coordinator at the U.S. State Department, O'Brien, told Politico that "at the beginning of this year, Russia was able to re-import certain key categories of electronics at approximately pre-war levels."