Drew Thompson

Drew Thompson

Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, NUS

Drew Thompson is a visiting senior research fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.

Eastern European nationals living in Taiwan stage a die-in during a demonstration at Free Square in front of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei on 17 April 2022, against the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Sam Yeh/AFP)

'Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow': Should Southeast Asia worry?

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a stark reminder of the possibility that the fate of Taiwan may be eventually decided by military force. For Southeast Asian states, the clear preference is to avoid becoming embroiled in a cross-strait conflict, though it may come at the expense of their own principles and security. Eventually, Southeast Asian states should realise that they cannot treat the threat of a cross-strait war as a distant problem as they stand to face unavoidable political, economic and security risks if the worst-case scenario unfolds.