Taiwan has become the fifth-largest buyer of Russian coal, Taiwan’s Environmental Rights Foundation and other international organizations said, calling for corporations to stop purchasing coal from Russia and contributing to revenue the Russian government is using in its war in Ukraine.
Taiwan’s reliance on Russian coal increased by 31 percent last year, a report released yesterday by the foundation in collaboration with the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air and civic group Ecodefense showed.
The report requested that the Taiwanese government abide by the international community’s economic sanctions against Russia and conduct a thorough investigation into the secretive channels of coal shipment from Russia.
Photo: Screen grab from the report
It also urged Formosa Plastics Group and Taiwan Cement Corp to terminate Russian coal purchase.
From the time Russia started its war against Ukraine in February 2022 up to May, Taiwan was the world’s fifth-largest buyer of Russian coal, accounting for 5 percent of Russia’s coal exports, the report said.
Taiwan has made a total of US$3.5 billion in payments for Russian coal during this period, the world’s second-highest per capita figure, behind South Korea, it added.
In terms of energy security, 12 percent of Taiwan’s coal imports came from Russia in 2022, which went up by 18 percent in January to May, the report said.
That indicates Taiwan has increased its energy dependency on Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine, it said.
“The private sector was responsible for the increase, as we can see from open sources on purchases by Formosa Plastics and Taiwan Cement,” foundation researcher Sun Hsing-hsuan (孫興瑄) said.
“The two Taiwanese conglomerates were already identified by the US and the UK as being in financial cooperation with Russian suppliers who are friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime or are known to be assisting in the war effort,” Sun said.
“Formosa Plastics and Taiwan Cement are at risk of being internationally sanctioned and could face penalties from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control, including the freezing of their US bank accounts,” he said.
“We had called on Formosa Plastics to gradually ease off, to stop importing Russian coal and petroleum. However, the company responded that it was cheaper to buy from Russia, and gave no plan on ways to reduce its purchases,” he said.
“We ask the Taiwanese government to conduct further investigations and take action to end the financial revenue it is giving to Russia, as it has tarnished Taiwan’s international image,” Sun added.
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