Shutterstock The near-term prospects of any attempt by China to annex Taiwan by force may have eased in the wake of Russia’s failure to quickly seize control of Ukraine.But whatever Russia’s difficulties there, Beijing will not give up on its longer-term “unification” goal — and the stakes couldn't be higher.Taiwan is situated near key energy and commodity transit routes and is a semiconductor superpower, while Russia-style sanctions on China would shock the global economy. Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine sent a stunning “wake-up call” to all of Taiwanese society, according to Academia Sinica Institute of Sociology research fellow Wu Jieh-min. “For a long time, most people have not taken the prospect of a cross-strait conflict seriously, but no more,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Lo Chih-cheng, co-chair of the parliamentary foreign and national defense affairs committee, told Energy Intelligence.
