Taiwan’s leader warned Beijing that the island will never give up its democratic way of life in a speech marking the national day Monday, in which she drew parallels with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The self-governing democracy’s 23 million residents live under the constant threat of an invasion by the Chinese Communist Party, and Moscow’s war in Ukraine has fueled fears that Beijing might attempt something similar with the island.

In her speech, President Tsai Ing-wen compared invading Moscow to Beijing’s goal of one day taking control of Taiwan — to which it has pledged, by force if necessary.

“We absolutely cannot ignore the challenge that these military expansions pose to the free and democratic world order,” she said.

“The destruction of Taiwan’s democracy and freedom would be a severe defeat for the world’s democracies,” she added.

Taiwan and China split at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.

China’s President Xi Jinping has increased diplomatic, economic and military pressure on Taipei in recent years and is a key ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Xi, China’s most authoritarian leader in a generation, is poised for a third term later this month and has made taking Taiwan a key element of his landmark “national rejuvenation” project.

But Tsai said becoming part of China is not acceptable to the people of Taiwan, which has emerged as a progressive democracy with a strong Taiwanese identity.

“During the past 73 years, on this land, people in Taiwan have lived and grown together and developed our own strong sense of identity and belonging,” she said.

“The broadest consensus among the Taiwanese people and our various political parties is that we must defend our national sovereignty and our free and democratic way of life. On this point we have no room for compromise.”

Hugely outnumbered by China, which has the world’s largest military, Taiwan has spent decades honing its invasion capabilities.

Beijing staged huge war drills around Taiwan in August to protest a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei.

Allies have urged Taiwan to adopt an asymmetrical “porcupine strategy” that would make it harder for China’s larger military to invade, an argument bolstered by Ukraine’s much smaller armed forces’ strong defenses against Moscow.

Tsai addressed this strategic shift directly in her speech.

“We’re ramping up mass production of precision missiles and high-performance naval vessels,” she said.

“In addition, we are working to acquire various small, highly mobile, precision weapons that will help us develop comprehensive asymmetric warfare capabilities and ensure Taiwan is fully prepared to respond to external military threats,” she added.

She also reiterated the need to mobilize and train more civilians to work with the military, a strategy Ukraine successfully adopted after the Russian invasion.

“Every citizen is a custodian of our nation,” she said.