Hsiao, who arrived last year in Washington to lead Taiwan’s diplomatic mission in the U.S., said her government hoped the crisis over Ukraine could be settled through diplomacy.

“Like everyone else in the world, we are watching the situation with much concern and anxiety,” she told NBC News. “We certainly hope that the situation can be resolved peacefully through diplomatic means. But at the same time, Taiwan has distinct historical and geopolitical circumstances, and we need to be focused on our priority and that is bolstering Taiwan’s self defense.”

Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, said last month her nation “empathized” with the plight of Ukrainians due to the military threat Taiwan faces from its powerful, larger neighbor. She ordered the creation of a task force to study how tensions between Russia and Ukraine could affect Taiwan’s own long-running conflict with Beijing.