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A police boat in front of the harbor in Taiwan's capital Taipei (archive photo)
Photo: Ann Wang / REUTERS
Following reports of shipments of cutting-edge Taiwanese technology to Russia despite existing sanctions, the government in Taipei has added additional products to a banned list. The Foreign Ministry announced that 77 additional items had been added to the catalog of machine tools banned for Russia and Belarus.
Numerous countries have imposed export restrictions on Moscow because of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. As early as 2023, Taiwan ordered restrictions on a variety of other machines.
The milling, turning or grinding machines, which can carry out precision work on different materials, would be useful for military and commercial purposes, said Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua. It was important for the export controls, which are due to come into force on March 8th, that it was seen that the devices had been delivered to Russia. The Foreign Ministry said Taiwan is committed to closing all sanctions loopholes. “We will continue to work with partners and stand by Ukraine,” the authority wrote on the online platform X (the former Twitter).
Products reach Russia via Türkiye or China
Several media outlets had previously reported that Taiwanese machine tools replaced the products of German, Japanese and Swiss manufacturers after they left the Russian market at the start of the war. Taiwan therefore did not deliver the goods directly to Russia. Instead, it got there via traders in Turkey or China, Moscow's most important ally.
China itself sees Taiwan as part of the People's Republic, while Taiwan sees itself as independent. Xi Jinping repeatedly threatens to conquer the island state if the 23 million Taiwanese refuse "unification." China is making increasing efforts to isolate Taiwan internationally.
bam/dpa