TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — When asked to comment on Russia's inclusion of Taiwan on a list of "unfriendly" nations earlier in the week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) said that Russia "has the right to make its own decisions."

On Monday (March 7), the Russian government released a list of nations it accused of taking "unfriendly actions against Russia, Russian companies, and citizens." The list included the U.K., Canada, Montenegro, Switzerland, Albania, Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, North Macedonia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Micronesia, New Zealand, Singapore, the U.S., and Taiwan.

The latter's presence on the list raised eyebrows among Taiwanese netizens as it appeared to be recognition that Taiwan is an independent country. Some made comments such as "Is the Russian government going to recognize Taiwan as an independent country?", "China will be unhappy," "Have they (China) protested that Russia is listing Taiwan as an unfriendly country?"

During a press conference on Thursday (March 10), a journalist from the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun asked the following question: "Russia has published a list of unfriendly countries and regions. Do you have any comment? If Russia takes concrete actions in the future, how will China respond?"

Zhao responded by saying, "Russia as a sovereign state has the right to make its own decisions."