Taiwan Condemns Russia Over Siding with China’s Criticism of Democratic Elections

TAIPEI—Taiwan’s foreign ministry sharply criticized Russia on Sunday after Moscow took Beijing’s side and criticized the island’s democratic elections a day earlier. On Jan. 13, about 14 million Taiwanese voters went to the polls to select a new president and legislature. Lai Ching-te, the current vice president of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), was elected the next president after picking up 40 percent of the votes. Mr. Lai’s victory gave the DPP—which China sees as a threat to its goal of taking over Taiwan—a third consecutive four-year term in power. Russia’s criticism of Taiwan is the latest example of a close partnership between Moscow and Beijing, ever since Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin elevated their ties to a “no limit” partnership in February 2021. Overlaying the criticism is a bigger question of whether Russia would support the CCP if Mr. Xi were to decide to invade Taiwan....