Hands duct-taped behind their backs, black hoods over their heads, the demonstrators lay in the street outside Russia’s de facto embassy in Taipei.

Taiwanese and Ukrainians were side by side to mark the third anniversary of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The solidarity was an expression of the fear that Putin’s invasion will embolden Xi Jinping, China’s president, in his pursuit of Taiwan.

“We are also facing the threat of communist invasion,” Chen Po-yuan, a Taiwanese influencer who participated in the demonstration last month, said on his YouTube channel.

Taiwanese people see a stark parallel between what is happening in Ukraine and the Damoclean sword dangled above above their heads by China. Like Ukrainians, they live under constant threat from a neighbour that believes it has a right to their territory. They also rely on Western support to keep that threat at bay.

Yet just days after the protest, Donald Trump publicly upended American foreign policy by engaging in a shouting match on live television with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House. He followed up by effectively shutting off Kyiv’s missile defences by ending US intelligence sharing.

In Taiwan, a sense of unease has turned into panic. “That was a huge moment for Taiwan,” says David Sacks, who studies Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).