As a potential turning point in the war in Ukraine plays out during high-level negotiations between the United States and Russia, reaction in Taiwan, which has faced sustained intimidation from mainland China, remains largely indifferent.
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The talks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between senior officials from Washington and Moscow on ending three years of conflict have suggested a desire by the White House to reset its relationship with the Kremlin. They have also sounded security alarms about abandonment and appeasement – especially in Ukraine and Europe.
Yet in Taiwan, the public response has been largely muted, despite previous remarks by US President Donald Trump that some have seen as a signal of a lower US level of commitment to defend the self-governed island.
The lack of attention in Taiwanese society towards the meetings is because people have other, more immediate concerns such as US tariffs on Taiwan’s semiconductor products and the island’s defence spending, according to observers.
The negotiations, which began on Tuesday, following a call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, have excluded Ukraine, Nato and European representatives. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stressed that Kyiv “simply will not be able to accept any agreements without us”.
Ahead of the talks, Trump made a controversial demand: he called for Ukraine to provide US$500 billion worth of rare earth minerals in return for the estimated US$300 billion in US military aid it had received. Zelensky rejected the proposal, insisting that the resources should serve as security guarantees for continued US military protection rather than as compensation.