Valerie Kornieieva has watched on in horror at the war unfolding in her homeland of Ukraine.
But she is also concerned for her second home, Taiwan, where she lives with her husband Stephen Xiao.
"I feel extremely anxious," the 27-year-old preschool teacher said.
Watching video after video of explosions and bombs going off in Ukraine — and briefly losing contact with her family as they fled Kyiv — left her on edge.
Celebratory fireworks in Taipei and a massive power outage last week had her spooked.
"My mind right now is with Ukraine, and with my family and friends," she said.
"Even though my body is not there, I still [feel] mentally very connected to things that are going on in my country. And that's why even here, I don't feel very safe."
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has sparked commentary about the fate of Taiwan and raised questions about the consequences for the island if Beijing were to invade.
"I might feel a little bit afraid. I already have war in my country, and then if war happens here, I don't know what will happen with my mental situation, I think I would go crazy," Ms Kornieieva said.
"My partner doesn't feel the same way. He is absolutely sure that Taiwan is safe.
"His confidence makes me feel a little bit better — he's not panicking."
Other Taiwanese people share Mr Xiao's view.
Janice Hsu said she had deep empathy for the people of Ukraine, but she doesn't think Chinese forces would attack the self-governing island.
Yang Shiaoyun, a retired history teacher who relocated from mainland China to Taiwan during the Chinese Civil War, doesn't believe there is an imminent threat.
"[Chinese President] Xi Jinping is still concerned that a war with Taiwan would hurt China's nascent social and economic development," she said.
"For now, China will not use force against Taiwan."
Ms Kornieieva hopes they're right.
"I really feel this is my home now ... I just hope the future would be peaceful," she said.
"My biggest concern about the whole situation [is that] it's unwise using nuclear weapons, [it's] unwisely threatening to the whole world."
Why the comparison?
Since Russia invaded Ukraine last month, many have drawn parallels between Ukraine and Taiwan – both are Western-facing democracies under threat from a powerful autocratic neighbour.
Beijing has long maintained the self-governing island of Taiwan is part of its territory, and "reunification" — by force if necessary — is a key priority for President Xi.
As Moscow amassed troops in border regions over the past few months, Beijing has flown a record number of fighter jets over Taiwan's air defence identification zone.
But there are key differences — Taiwan has the natural barrier of the ocean in the Taiwan Strait, while Russia and Ukraine share a long land border.
Taipei's cabinet spokesperson, Lo Ping-cheng, has said the two situations are incomparable.
"But there are those using this opportunity to manipulate the so-called [topic] of 'today's Ukraine, tomorrow's Taiwan', trying to inappropriately link Ukraine's situation with Taiwan's, disturbing people's morale. This is inadvisable," he said.
China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying also dismissed any comparisons with Ukraine, but for different reasons — Beijing regards Taiwan as part of China.
"Taiwan is not Ukraine," she said.
"Taiwan has always been an inalienable part of China. This is an indisputable legal and historical fact."
The island is not recognised as an independent country except by a handful of states.
Taiwan has stepped up its alert level since the invasion of Ukraine, and Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng warned any future war between China and Taiwan would see both pay a heavy price.
"If there's a war, to be frank, everyone will be miserable, even for the victors," he said.
"One really needs to think this through," he added. "Everyone should avoid wars."
The danger of thinking 'Taiwan is next'
Oleksandr Shyn is a Ukrainian who lives in Taipei. His Korean grandfather was one of nearly 172,000 Soviet Koreans who were deported to Central Asia in the 1930s under Stalin's "frontier cleansing" campaign.
His parents were raised in Uzbekistan and moved to the southern region of Kherson in Ukraine when he was one, but he moved to Taiwan last year.
Mr Shyn said most Ukrainians were in disbelief after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"There were a lot of feelings of injustice. And in that state, it is very hard to apply logic to everything that is happening," he said.
He said while there were similarities between Ukraine and Taiwan, there were some key differences too.
"I think, indeed, there are a lot of similarities … but I also remind myself of the danger of this claim that says, 'Taiwan is next.'"
"Because first of all, we have very different histories. And our relations with these authoritarian neighbours are very different."
He said Taiwan had its own trade structure, supply chains and commitments with global partners.
"Instead of just talking about this one similarity that might indicate that Taiwan can be attacked, what we need right now is to sit down and look at all those factors."
In the meantime, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has announced that Taiwan is strengthening military preparations to guard against the potential threat of a Chinese invasion, and military strategists on the island have been observing Ukraine's "asymmetrical warfare" tactics, Reuters reported.
Roger Lee Huang, an expert in political violence at Macquarie University, said Taiwan's Defence Ministry had long recognised Beijing's "grey zone" tactics — including misinformation, political subversion and psychological warfare — and had responded to those challenges.
Dr Huang said the international community's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine should remind Taiwanese people of the importance of developing its capacity to deter China from launching any military action.
"Many analysts have also pointed out that Taiwan will need to rethink its strategy to develop asymmetrical warfare, a 'porcupine strategy' to ensure any external aggression would come at a high cost for the invaders," he said.
Would the US defend Taiwan? Would Australia?
There is also the question of whether the United States would intervene in the case of Taiwan, when it has said it will not send troops to Ukraine.
The US has the Taiwan Relations Act, which states, "The United States will make available to Taiwan such defense articles and defense services in such quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability."
Analysts describe this as "strategic ambiguity" when it comes to what kind of support the US would provide in the event China invaded Taiwan.
However, in October last year, when asked if the US would come to Taiwan's defence if China attacked, President Joe Biden responded: "Yes, we have a commitment to do that."
Australia's Defence Minister Peter Dutton was asked last week if Canberra would send arms or troops to Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, given the country is a close ally to the US and the proximity to the region.
He said "China is amassing nuclear weapons" and that Japan did "see a situation where China goes into Taiwan as an existential threat".
"I think we do whatever we can to deter China from acts of aggression in our region," Mr Dutton said.
"Let's be very honest. The question is — as it is in the Ukraine at the moment — if it's Taiwan, does it just stop there?
"We don't want conflict. We want to deter those ambitions. And we want peace to prevail in Taiwan as much as we do [want] it to prevail in the Ukraine."
Dr Huang, from Macquarie University, said it was hard to tell, but Taiwan did have assurances and the US had greater interest in their part of the world.
Dr Chang Lin-cheng, a political analyst in Taiwan, said the US could not afford to put itself in trouble over an external conflict, and that there was more at stake for Beijing.
"Taiwan is a major interest of the US but a core interest of China," she said.
"The loss of Taiwan will cause a complete overthrow of the Chinese regime. Thus, China will fight to win or die, but the US will not."
Sung Wen-Ti — a scholar of international relations from ANU — said a potential invasion of Taiwan would trigger a "showdown" between the world's two superpowers, and would have huge implications for regional security and Australia's future.
The China-Taiwan issue, in the Indo-Pacific, was a different equation for the US than the unfolding conflict in Eastern Europe, he said.
"From the US perspective, it is more likely and feasible to defend Taiwan than it is to defend Ukraine," he said.
"Therefore, Taiwan is geographically closer to the ocean and can use its naval strength to help defend and deter."
Taiwan residents Ms Hsu and Ms Yang are divided on the question.
"If China sends troops to Taiwan, it will make the US lose face," Ms Hsu said.
Ms Yang doesn't share the same optimism, and says the crisis in Ukraine has had a chilling effect on the Taiwan government, which may be afraid to declare independence.
"The US will never send troops. It can merely maintain military deterrence against China," she said.
