The cliche is that countries prepare to fight the last war. But Taiwan is now preparing to fight a new kind of war to deter Xi Jinping from using military force to reunify the 26 million-strong island democracy with mainland China.

Taiwanese defence, security and foreign affairs officials and analysts say that the lessons of Ukraine have been learnt. If China does attack, Taiwan receiving the same kind of military and economic assistance that Ukraine has received from the US and other allies will ultimately hinge on whether the Taiwanese people show the same level of resistance as the Ukrainians.