In a church in Lviv, a city in western Ukraine, Tseng Sheng-guang’s mother takes a last look at her son, who lies in a coffin.
The They are accompanied by other relatives and a number of Ukrainians who want to pay tribute to a man who died thousands of kilometers from his home, fighting for a country he had never visited before.
“My boy Sheng-guang , I want you to know that you were very brave”, says his mother. “You will always be my baby and I am proud of you.”
Tseng was fighting with the international legion
of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces when he was assassinated last month in the eastern city of Lyman. He was the first Taiwanese killed in combat in Ukraine.
In a statement released after his death, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that Tseng had “gave his life for Ukraine’s struggle for freedom”.
Thousands of foreign soldiers have traveled to Ukraine to fight and, among them, the number of Taiwanese is small, it is estimated around .
But Russia’s invasion has resonated with the small island, half a world away.
China argues that Taiwan is part of his territory and says he will unify it, even by force. Taiwan sees itself as an independent territory of China.
Tensions in the strait that divides both territories increased considerably after the visit of US politician Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan last August, something that angered Beijing. China responded with military exercises around the island.
Military service
Sammy Lin, a virtual friend of Tseng, said that the young man’s main concern was that one day, Taiwan would suffer the same fate as Ukraine:
“I remember telling his friends who couldn’t stand Ukrainians being abused and killed by the Russians.”
Tseng was one of “the most correct people” he had come across, Lin said.
Tseng Sheng-guang’s mother traveled to retrieve her son’s remains.
Taiwan has compulsory military service, which means that those who complete it can be part of the Foreign Legion of Ukraine.
Jack Yao, from 20, is also one of those who made the decision to go. Arrived in Ukraine three days after President Volodymyr Zelensky
called
foreign volunteers
to join the Ukrainian struggle, traveling from Taipei to Poland and then to the capital Kyiv.
to join the Ukrainian struggle, traveling from Taipei to Poland and then to the capital Kyiv.
“I was watching the situation since last year, especially with the Russians moving soldiers and tanks to the Ukrainian border. Nobody believed it could happen, “he told the BBC.
” The situation in Taiwan and what happens there is very similar. I was thinking what I could do to support Ukraine,” he added.
He joined the Georgian Foreign Legion and was given close combat reconnaissance duties. When he arrived, the Russians were still trying to take over Kyiv.
“There were several attacks with missiles and bombs while the Russians were in Bucha,” he says, referring to the town north of the capital.
“I had a mission, and I saw our men killed in an explosion. The bomb exploded at almost 10 meters behind them.”
During free time, he managed to discuss the Taiwan situation with members of his unit.
“A guy had lived in Taiwan for two years and knew the situation. Taiwan and Ukraine are almost brothers
. It does not matter. They were telling me that I couldn’t die here because I had to return to protect my homeland,” he said.
While Yao returned to his coffee business in Taiwan, others remain in Ukraine. In a recent video for a Ukrainian charity, two Taiwanese explained their reasons for staying in the combat zone. “The main reason we came here was to safeguard the safety of Ukrainians,” they say while holding a Taiwan flag. “We also fear that if Russia wins, China will do the same in Taiwan. So we are ready to come to Ukraine, to sacrifice our lives Still, not all Taiwanese who went to Ukraine had geopolitical motivations in mind. In June, Li Chenling told the BBC’s Chinese service that he was there because he wanted to live a “memorable” life. He added that if Taiwan were to be invaded, his will to fight would depend on the response from both the Taiwan government and the US government The US President Joe Biden has repeatedly said his government would defend Taiwan given a possible Chinese attack. However, Washington’s official position is one of “strategic ambiguity”: it does not commit to defending Taiwan, but it does not rule out the option either. Last month, President Biden said he did not believe a Chinese invasion of Taiwan was imminent. He said this after a face-to-face meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, prior to the meeting of the G10 in Bali. Taiwanese have different positions and visions regarding the possibility of a conflict, says Paul Huang , of the Taiwan Public Opinion Forum. “It is interesting, but more people seem to indicate that they are not concerned,” he told the BBC. “As we have seen in Ukraine, the concern that people have about a certain event does not affect in any way the probabilities of that event occurring, nor does it refer to the level of preparation” , he said. However, most Taiwanese do not believe that the island is capable of holding up against China In her mourning, Tseng’s mother said her son’s decision to fight side by side with others for Ukraine gave her some peace . “Despite my pain, it gives me great comfort to know that in the last moments of his life, Sheng-guang was fighting shoulder to shoulder shoulder with the group of the bravest warriors, who supported each other and who were together in life and in death.” Remember that you can receive notifications from BBC News World. Download the new version of our app and activate them so you don’t miss our best content. Jack Yao – in Poland – registered to fight in Ukraine just three days after President Zelensky invited people to fight for his country.and freedom for the safety of the people here.”
“Shoulder to shoulder”
therefore time as Ukraine has done with Russia, he added.