Taiwan is “not Ukraine” and has always been an inalienable part of China, the country’s foreign ministry said Wednesday.

This comes as Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen called for the island to beef up vigilance on military activities in response to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying dismissed any link between the issues of Ukraine and Taiwan.

“Taiwan is not Ukraine,” she said. “Taiwan has always been an inalienable part of China. This is an indisputable legal and historical fact.”

The issue of Taiwan is one leftover from the civil war, but China’s integrity should never have been compromised and never has been compromised, Mrs Hua added.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had flagged the risk for Taiwan in a warning last week about the damaging worldwide consequences if Western nations failed to fulfil their promises to support Ukraine’s independence.

Taiwan’s president had also said all security and military units “must raise their surveillance and early warning of military developments around the Taiwan Strait,” Tsai told a meeting of the working group on the Ukraine crisis set up by her National Security Council.

China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, has stepped up military activity near the self-governing island over the past two years, though Taiwan has reported no recent unusual manoeuvres by Chinese forces as tension over Ukraine has spiked.

(Reuters/NAN)