Taiwan Government Sends Medical Supplies to Ukraine

A staff member (centre R) from the Russian representative office receives a protest sign f
SAM YEH/AFP via Getty Images
Gabrielle Reyes

Taiwan’s government said Tuesday it sent 27 metric tons of medical supplies to Ukraine on Monday in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country, Reuters reported.

Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said the medical aid shipment left Taiwan via airplane on the night of February 28 headed first for Frankfurt, Germany. From Frankfurt, the supplies will travel to Ukraine through “appropriate routes and channels,” according to the ministry.

“The Republic of China, Taiwan, as a member of the international community’s democratic camp, is willing to act in the spirit of ‘Taiwan Can Help’ and based on humanitarian considerations, our country will provide Ukraine with urgently needed medical relief supplies in a timely manner,” Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote in a press release published by Reuters on February 28.

The official Twitter account of Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry posted a similar message on Monday confirming the shipment of humanitarian aid to Ukraine. The social media post read:

We #StandWithUkraine by sending 27 tons of medical supplies. While #China sides with #Russia in an “unlimited alliance,” #Taiwan is with freedom & democracy fighting the expansion of authoritarianism. I have faith: Democracy will prevail! JW

The message was signed “JW,” which the account uses to signal a tweet was written by Jaushieh Joseph Wu, Taiwan’s minister of foreign affairs.

While Wu’s Twitter post on Monday referred to the shipment in “tons,” Reuters referred to the same supplies in “tonnes” on Tuesday. A “tonne,” also known as a “metric ton,” is a metric unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms or about 2,204.6 pounds. A “ton,” as referred to in the U.S., is an imperial unit of measurement equaling 2,000 pounds.

Russia’s military launched an air and ground offensive in neighboring Ukraine on the morning of February 24. The development followed 72 hours after Moscow declared its intention to formally recognize two Russian-backed breakaway states in eastern Ukraine’s Donbass territory known as the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR).

The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) issued a press release on February 27 stating Ukraine was suffering from a medical oxygen shortage amid its ongoing military conflict with Russia. The statement read:

The oxygen supply situation is nearing a very dangerous point in Ukraine. Trucks are unable to transport oxygen supplies from plants to hospitals across the country, including the capital Kyiv. The majority of hospitals could exhaust their oxygen reserves within the next 24 hours. Some have already run out. This puts thousands of lives at risk.

Further, medical oxygen generator manufacturers in several areas are also facing shortages of zeolite, a crucial, mainly imported chemical product necessary to produce safe medical oxygen. Safe deliveries of zeolite from outside Ukraine to these plants is also needed.

The W.H.O. is the international public health body of the United Nations (U.N.). The U.N. Security Council on February 26 attempted to pass a resolution that would have demanded Moscow immediately withdraw all troops from Ukraine. Russia, which is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, vetoed the resolution.

“While 11 of the Council’s 15 members voted in favour of the text, China India, and the United Arab Emirates abstained,” the U.N. wrote in a press release detailing the resolution’s failure.

“A ‘no’ vote from any one of the five permanent members of the Council stops action on any measure put before it. The body’s permanent members are: China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States,” the U.N. noted.

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