Today (March 2nd) Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it would be creating a special account to donate funds to Ukraine as they fight against the brutal Russian invasion. Soon after, many Taiwanese politicians began donating their salaries to the cause.
Immediately after the announcement both President Tsai and Vice President Lai, along with Premier Su Tseng-chang, announced that they would be donating one month’s salary to help those in Ukraine. After the DPP leadership made this move, many others followed their lead.
Pan Men-an, the Pingtung Country Magistrate, also decided to donate his salary to the effort. He was joined by Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che and Keelung City Mayor Lin Yu-chang. Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan and Chiayi Country Magistrate Weng Chang-liang have also announced that they will be donating their salaries to assist those affected by the Russian invasion. However, the DPP isn’t the only party standing up to sacrifice a month of income to help Ukrainians.
The current Chairman of the KMT, Eric Chu, has announced that he will also forego a month of his salary to send to Ukrainians in need. Like the others, Chu said that he wants to see an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine. While Chu seems to be the lone KMT politician who has announced such a move so far, he is unlikely to be the last.
We will likely see more elected officials in Taiwan, and potentially around the world, deciding to donate their salaries to help Ukrainians in the coming days. Hopefully Taiwan will also continue to donate medical supplies for those displaced and injured by Russian aggression. Taiwan should also look into its policies regarding visa status and asylum to help those fleeing Ukraine and the Ukrainians that are already here in Taiwan.