Commemorations to take place across the UK and Europe against backdrop of Ukraine conflict

Taiwan marked the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day on Thursday by making broad comparisons to threats from China, whose leader Xi Jinping was in Russia for commemorations as Moscow continues its invasion of Ukraine.

“Peace is priceless, and war has no winners. History has taught us that no matter the driving reason or ideology, military aggression against another country is an unjust crime that is bound to fail,” Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te told diplomats in Taipei, reports the Associated Press (AP).

“Authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy, and greater inequality,” he added. Turning more directly to China’s threats, Lai said that both Taiwan and Europe were “now facing the threat of a new authoritarian bloc.”

Lai said:

We are seeing our decades-old undersea cables, crucial for communications and cybersecurity, being sabotaged. We are seeing external interference in our elections, crucial for healthy democratic development, through the spread of misinformation and disinformation, sowing intentional division in society. We are seeing our fair, free and open international rules-based markets being tested by all manner of gray-zone activities, dumping, pressures and intrusions.