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March 3^rd, 2022

The Physical Society of Taiwan (TPS) strongly condemns the continuing attack against Ukraine by the Russian Federation.

While we believe that scientific research transcends national borders, the recent military action of the Russian government against Ukraine, a fellow democratic and sovereign country, has caused immeasurable human suffering and seriously undermines the fundamental principles for the advance of human civilization through scientific endeavors.

Taiwan, despite obvious geopolitical differences, shares many of the ideals, experiences and struggles Ukraine has. We at TPS, would like to express our deepest solidarity with all Ukrainian citizens whose basic livelihood and freedom are gravely threatened by the current presence of a foreign military force.

TPS would therefore like to call on the entire Taiwanese scientific community to protest unequivocally and take the appropriate punitive measures against the Russian federation for its ongoing violences within Ukraine.

As part of the international physics community, TPS will do the utmost within its capability to support our colleagues in Ukraine whose research may have been severely impacted by the current tragic circumstance, in order to ensure the continuity of their careers.

We are keenly aware that a large number of Russian scientists have signed an open letter against the invasion of Ukraine. We sincerely sympathize with them and would also like to stand in solidarity for any Russian scientists’ courageous action against an authoritarian regime.

The Taiwanese scientific community has long-established research collaborations with Russian scientists. However given the military action taken by the Russian government against Ukraine, TPS would like to call on relevant Taiwanese governmental agencies to carry out the following measures immediately:

(1) Suspend all joint research programs co-sponsored by Taiwan and the Russian governments.

(2) Expedite the visa application processes for Ukrainian scientists, scholars, or students to visit Taiwan.

In this dark hour as Ukraine is experiencing, TPS strongly believes these measures will support our Ukrainian friends in need and lead to a brighter future.

The Physical Society of Taiwan