There are several striking parallels between Russia’s strategy toward Ukraine and China’s designs on Taiwan.

China, like Russia, also subscribes to a revanchist foreign policy. Beijing views Taiwan as a lost territory that must be united under its “one China” principle to achieve the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” Beijing also views Taiwan as a US puppet and a national security threat sitting off its east coast that must be neutralized.

China’s and Russia’s infiltration and destabilization tactics are also surprisingly similar. The Kremlin has been fomenting unrest in Ukraine for years, using what it calls “active measures” to set ethnic Russians against Ukrainians, weaken the authority of the Ukrainian government and erode national unity.

China’s “united front” tactics follow essentially the same strategy: infiltrate every corner of Taiwanese society — politics, commerce, Buddhist temples and even criminal gangs — to drive a wedge between benshengren (本省人) — the people who came to Taiwan before World War II and their offspring — and waishengren (外省人) — those who came from China with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) after the war and their offspring.