Russian state and pro-government media systematically portray Taiwan as a political instrument of the United States, devoid of its own interests and of independence in decision-making. Taipei supposedly merely carries out the instructions of Washington, which seeks to create a new center of confrontation in the Asia-Pacific region. In this respect, Russian propaganda reproduces the Soviet paradigm of covering Taiwan. In Soviet discourse, it was systematically depicted as an \u201coutpost of American imperialism\u201d in Asia. Contemporary Russian pro-government media use a similar construct, merely adapting it to the current context of the U.S.\u2013China confrontation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, an important element of this narrative has become the transfer onto Taiwan of the Russian propaganda template about a war \u201cto the last Ukrainian.\u201d For example, in October 2024 RIA Novosti ran the headline formula: \u201cTo the last Taiwanese: the Americans have found themselves a new Ukraine.\u201d In the text, Taiwan\u2019s leadership is called \u201cAmerican puppets,\u201d and Taipei\u2019s defense contacts with Washington are explained not as a reaction to pressure from the PRC but as supposed U.S. preparation for a proxy war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taiwanese military exercises also regularly become a target of Russian propaganda. In particular, the annual Han Kuang exercises are described as a demonstration of the U.S. \u201cintention\u201d to militarize the island. Taiwan\u2019s use of HIMARS systems or its study of the experience of modern wars is presented as transferring the \u201cUkrainian scenario\u201d to Asia. At the same time, Russian media ignore the defensive nature of such measures and Taiwan\u2019s right to prepare for a possible invasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The vocabulary that Russian media use with regard to Taiwan in reports about the region\u2019s security situation is also telling. Instead of the name \u201cTaiwan,\u201d they often use the wording \u201cthe island\u201d or \u201cthe Chinese island.\u201d This manner of naming turns Taiwan from a political actor into an anonymous geographical object.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Discrediting Taiwan\u2019s International Cooperation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The second direction of Russian information policy consists in presenting Taiwan as an unreliable and self-interested international partner. Taipei\u2019s humanitarian, economic, and security initiatives are described exclusively as attempts to attract the attention of the United States and to obtain short-term political gain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One characteristic storyline of Russian media in recent years concerns Taiwan\u2019s assistance to states facing war or other crises. Support for the civilian population or the transfer of necessary equipment for humanitarian needs is interpreted by Russian propaganda as a manifestation of cynical political calculation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As expected, Russian media pay particular attention to Taiwan\u2019s cooperation with Ukraine and the Baltic states. In particular, Russian propagandists did not overlook the statement by Lithuania\u2019s prime minister that \u201chopes for Taiwanese investment in semiconductor production have not materialized.\u201d A number of Russian media used these words of the Lithuanian leadership as confirmation that Taipei supposedly fails to deliver the expected results despite its promises. The context of the diplomatic and economic discussions is pushed into the background, while a single critical remark is turned into a characterization of Taiwan\u2019s entire foreign policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Information about the possible acquisition by the United States of decommissioned Taiwanese MIM-23 HAWK surface-to-air missile systems for subsequent transfer to Ukraine was covered in a similar way. Russian sources presented this situation not through the prism of the urgent needs of Ukrainian air defense but as an attempt by Taiwan to get rid of a \u201cCold War relic.\u201d As a result, consumers of Russian disinformation are left with an image of Taiwan as a state that supposedly uses international conflicts to raise its own status while at the same time being unwilling to take on real commitments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ridiculing Support for Ukraine Among Taiwan\u2019s Citizens<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For part of Taiwanese society, Taiwan, like Ukraine, stands against an external power that denies its separate political identity, appeals to \u201chistorical unity,\u201d and threatens the use of force. Therefore, acts of solidarity in Taiwan may be perceived not only as support for a distant country but also as a response to a threat that Taiwanese consider relevant to themselves. This is precisely why one of the directions of Russian propaganda regarding Taiwan has become the devaluation of Taiwanese society\u2019s solidarity with Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Russian Telegram channels that cover political events in East Asia usually portray charity fundraisers, demonstrations, and other initiatives of Taiwanese civil society as naive, artificial, or organized under external influence. Russian media and Telegram channels specializing in covering political developments in East Asia \u2013 \u201cChina-Vavilov\u201d (145,000 subscribers) and \u201cKitayskiy svyaZnoy\u201d (85,000 subscribers) \u2013 ridicule participants in pro-Ukrainian events or depict them as puppets of Western propaganda. Such media outlets reduce the civic stance of Taiwanese to \u201cfew and marginal actions.\u201d Sometimes the messages are accompanied by hints that the events are supposedly organized by local authorities or American structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A common technique is also the devaluation of the assistance Taiwan provides to Ukraine. For example, ambulances handed over to Ukraine were described in the Russian Telegram segment as \u201cvans for the man-hunters from the territorial recruitment centers\u201d that are for now being called humanitarian aid. The authors of such messages, of course, provide no factual confirmation that the vehicles transferred by Taiwan are being used for anything other than their direct purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rallies in support of Ukraine are also portrayed as a pointless attempt by Taiwan to win the West\u2019s favor. This interpretation is similar to the explanation of the motives behind Taipei\u2019s official support for Ukraine examined in the previous subsection. Participants in demonstrations are credited not with sincere solidarity but with a desire to demonstrate political loyalty to the United States. Ironic comments, demeaning labels, and conspiratorial assumptions make it possible to avoid a substantive conversation about the reasons for Taiwanese support for Ukraine and instead to declare this support the result of external manipulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ridiculing of pro-Ukrainian rallies is part of Russia\u2019s broader external information strategy: to isolate Ukraine, to portray international solidarity with it as artificial, and to convince foreign societies that any assistance merely prolongs the war or facilitates repressive practices. In the case of Taiwan, this is compounded by Russia\u2019s desire to play along with China: to deny the commonality of the security experience of Taiwanese and Ukrainian societies and to prevent the formation in Taiwan of sustained public interest in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thus, Russia systematically denies Taiwan\u2019s right to its own political agency, discredits its cooperation with democratic states, and devalues any expressions of support for Ukraine. Russian resources explain humanitarian aid, defense preparation, and civic acts of solidarity not by the real needs or convictions of Taiwanese society but by external control, self-interested calculation, or a desire to earn the favor of the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this way, Russian coverage of Taiwan is not always an automatic retelling of Beijing\u2019s official position. Moscow adapts the Taiwan topic to its own propaganda system, formed around the war against Ukraine and the broader confrontation with the West. As a result, the discrediting of Taiwan becomes part of a shared information logic: to strip democratic societies of political agency, to present international solidarity as artificial, and to portray cooperation between them as a consequence of American pressure rather than an independent choice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"This](\"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image-6-1024x736.png\")
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