THE XI STANDS ALONE:

[T]here are growing signs that China is unwilling to shoulder the costs of its partner's strategic blunder. At least two prominent Chinse scholars, Wang Huiyao and Hu Wei, have openly called on Beijing to distance itself from Russia's mishaps and help mediate an end to the conflict. China's Ambassador to Washington, Qin Gang, has been quoted claiming, "Had China known about the imminent crisis, we would have tried our best to prevent it."

But while a prevaricating China tries to distance itself from Russia's mishaps and minimize its potential exposure to crushing Western sanctions on Moscow, Taiwan has been carefully drawing lessons from the military quagmire. Ukraine's stiff resistance, which has exposed Russia's operational vulnerabilities, has inspired Taiwanese strategists as well as the broader population of the self-ruling island, which Beijing brands as a renegade province.

A new authoritative poll shows that more than 70% of Taiwanese citizens would be willing to militarily defend Taiwan in the event of war with China. There is also growing public support for overhauling military reservists' training and, if necessary, extending mandatory military service in order to ensure "total defense" against any prospective invasion by Taiwan's giant neighbor in the future.

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