Welcome to Hard Talk on the BBC World Service with me, Stephen Saka.

My guest today is a diplomat who operates in something of a twilight world, a de facto ambassador who can't be identified as such, representing a country whose sovereignty isn't internationally recognized.

Min Yeng Sai is Taipei's representative to the European Union. His homeland

Taiwan has governed itself for more than seven decades, but it is still claimed by China. And the world

chooses not to directly challenge Beijing's one China policy, though the United States is committed to a defense alliance with Taiwan

and provides the island with arms. Inevitably, parallels are now being drawn with another conflict

pitting an authoritarian nuclear-armed superpower against a neighbor determined to follow a different

ideological path, that is, Russia and Ukraine. While the West has

condemned Putin and offered Kiev military and economic backing, Beijing has emphasized its deep

strategic partnership with Russia. So what does the invasion of Ukraine mean for the long-term security

of Taiwan? Well, Taipei's EU representative, Ming Yenai,

joins me now from Brussels. Welcome to Hard Talk. It's my pleasure to be here with you.

It's a pleasure to have you on the show. You, of course, sit there in Brussels. You are the

representative of Taipei as it's put to the European Union. I just wonder from

your position, what impact has Russia's invasion of Ukraine had on your homeland? Yes, I think our

global community is watching the situation in Ukraine closely. And we believe that the impact of the

Ukraine situation will be far-reaching and global reaching. So I think the first situation that we

need to keep watching will be about the geopolitical phase in Europe may turn out with a new map.

So, you know, this is a wake-up call to our global community because it shows that

how easily authoritarian countries can use force to challenge the rural-based order and

international borders.

So it's very important for our democratic community to hold a line and then to raise the

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