Taipei: Russia could support China with military logistics and engage in provocations elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific region if China were to use force against Taiwan, Director-General of Taiwan’s National Security Bureau (NSB) Tsai Ming-yen said Wednesday. Such provocations by Russia would “increase regional complexity,” Tsai told Taiwanese lawmakers while answering questions at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.

According to Focus Taiwan, the committee invited Tsai and Defense Minister Wellington Koo to brief lawmakers on potential conflict flashpoints near Taiwan and on military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers Chen Chun-yu and Wang Ting-yu raised questions about the role Russia might play if China were to attack Taiwan. Attention should be paid to whether Russia conducts military patrols around the Taiwan Strait, the Western Pacific, and Japan’s Miyako Island, the national security chief said. Such actions would make a response by the United States and its allies more complicated, he told lawmakers.

Tsai mentioned that the NSB has been monitoring potential China-Russia military cooperation through international intelligence exchanges. He noted that he had already attended “nearly 100 formal bilateral meetings” with 45 other countries on Indo-Pacific security issues this year. Defense Minister Koo added that China expressed strong dissatisfaction after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made remarks related to a “Taiwan contingency.” Specifically, Takaichi told the Japanese parliament on Nov. 7 that use of force against Taiwan by China could constitute a “survival-threatening” crisis for Japan that would warrant a military response from Tokyo.

On Wednesday, Koo told Taiwanese lawmakers that beyond military exercises, a recent joint China-Russia aerial patrol sent a “clear message” that China and Russia have a cooperative relationship in the region.