Taiwan ready to assist Ukraine with digital reconstruction

By Andrius Sytas

VILNIUS (Reuters) – Taiwan is ready to help Ukraine upgrade its digital infrastructure in fields such as remote learning as part of rebuilding efforts after the war, the island’s Digital Minister Audrey Tang told Reuters.

Tang was visiting Vilnius in her first foreign visit since being appointed as digital minister in August 2022. She pointed to the digitalisation of Taiwan’s education system as an area where the island could help.

“Taiwan has already provided humanitarian aid (to Ukraine) in terms of generators, equipment and so, but we are also thinking about the digital layer,” Tang told Reuters on Friday.

“We want to provide what has enabled the various people in Taiwan to be a transcultural learning community, despite very different backgrounds.”

Tang said there are no official talks with Ukraine’s government on digital cooperation, but she is in contact with personal connections.

Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year, saying Kyiv’s ties with the West threatened Russia’s security. Ukraine and its allies call it an unprovoked war to seize territory.

In Vilnius, Tang laid a wreath on graves of civilians killed in January 1991 at the hands of the Soviet army, during a failed attempt to overthrow the pro-independence government.

Taiwan opened a representative office in Vilnius in November 2021, irking China, which views the self-ruled island as part of its territory.

China downgraded diplomatic ties with Vilnius, prompting the Lithuanian government to withdraw its diplomats from Beijing.

Reuters has reported China was pressuring German companies to stop using components made in Lithuania, which is a member of both the European Union and NATO.

(Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius; Editing by Sharron Singleton)