At the beginning of the Year of the Tiger, the international situation was violently shaken. Russia launched a "special military operation" against Ukraine, rewriting the global strategic pattern with one move, and the game between all parties has entered a white-hot situation.
Under the world's attention, the Ukrainian issue has triggered a new round of international reflection and discussion. China's position has attracted much attention, and some Western media have taken the opportunity to carry bootleg goods and intentionally or unintentionally try to pull China down this muddy water.
Source: @CYStudio
At present, the situation in Ukraine has escalated in an all-round way. While "adding fuel to the fire," the United States accused China of "ineffective firefighting." Source: @CYStudio
In fact, State Councilor Wang Yi has expounded China's five-point position on the current Ukrainian issue, and its core essence is at least two points: First, the purposes and principles of the UN Charter must be observed together, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected; second, China has always advocated resolving differences through dialogue and negotiation.
China's foreign policy has always been consistent, is the unity of Oriental thinking and materialistic dialectics, can withstand the test of history, and is most conducive to safeguarding national interests and safeguarding international fairness and justice. War is always brutal, and force is never the first and right way to solve problems. How should we rationally view the crisis at hand when we are lamenting the current difficult situation of the Ukrainian people?
01
Western narratives often see only trees, not forests, and only stare at the front of the eyes, not the process. Now the West is blindly focusing on Russia's attack on Ukraine, but it deliberately ignores why and how it will be fought.
Viruses need to be traced back, and wars also need to be traced. To understand the history and historical context of the Ukrainian problem, it is recommended to carefully read the two recent 10,000-word speeches of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian crisis is a Contradiction between Russia and Ukraine on the surface, but in essence it is a Russian-American game.
Schematic map of Ukraine and its surrounding areas (map source: Ministry of Natural Resources of China)
As the famous American scholar Friedman put it, the United States and NATO are "not innocent" in this crisis. Putin has personally experienced the 30 years of us and NATO's pressing, blackmail, deception and insults against Russia, and his grief and indignation are overflowing with words.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States ostensibly welcomed Russia to the West with open arms, and Russia has repeatedly tried to get along with the United States and NATO. A document disclosed by britain's national archives shows that the U.S. representative made a clear commitment in that year's negotiations: "NATO should not expand eastward formally or informally." However, in fact, NATO has carried out 5 consecutive rounds of eastward expansion, directly approaching the Russian border. Once Ukraine joins NATO, U.S. ground-based weapons systems will inevitably be deployed there. "It takes less than 35 minutes for the Tomahawk cruise missile to reach Moscow, 7-8 minutes for the launch of ballistic missiles from Kharkov, 4-5 minutes for a supersonic strike ... It is equivalent to directly putting the sharp knife on the throat of Russia! ”
Schematic diagram of NATO's 5 eastward expansions (blue: NATO; red: Soviet Union and Russia)
According to Russia's "Komsomol Pravda" newspaper, there are at least thousands of US and NATO military personnel in Ukraine, and more than a dozen military facilities, but they are declared to be "training centers" to the outside world. In Ochakov on the Black Sea, the United States helped build the Ukrainian Naval Operations Center, but only part of the base was handed over to the Ukrainians, and the other part was used by U.S. intelligence agencies. In addition, officers from Canada, the United Kingdom, Denmark and other countries are also training local troops in Ukraine. The United States and NATO have long been secretly in tune with Ukraine, but they have not yet officially been named to the outside world. As a product of the Cold War, NATO was born to contain the Soviet Union, and now with weapons blocked at its doorstep, can Russia feel safe? Millsheimer, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago in the United States, pointed out that the United States itself is vigorously engaged in Monroe Doctrine and does not allow any country outside the United States to deploy military forces in the Western Hemisphere, so the United States should not be surprised by Russia's reaction.
The United States' push for NATO's eastward expansion and constantly fanned the flames are the root causes of the deterioration of the situation in Ukraine. (Comic: Liu Rui)
Since November 2021, Russia has launched the "Security Assurance Initiative" to the United States and NATO, putting forward "three major concerns" and drawing three red lines for the United States and the West, one is that NATO abandons eastward expansion, the other is not to deploy offensive weapons around Russia, and the third is that NATO's military deployment in Europe returns to the state of 1997, and requires the United States and NATO to respond in writing. But the result continues to be ignored and rejected by the West.
At the same time, the United States continues to provide Ukraine with all kinds of military equipment, and Ukraine is also open to developing nuclear weapons. For Putin and Russia, whether to compromise and sit still, or to fight back in a broken boat, is a life-and-death choice.
At the end of January 2022, $200 million in U.S. military aid to Ukraine arrived.
In the face of the sharp knife in the throat, Putin made his answer - using the logic of the US side and countering violence by countering violence. In the words of De Zayas, a former independent expert on a democratic and fair international order at the United Nations Human Rights Council, many of the actions of the United States and NATO over the years have violated international law, which sets a "permissible precedent" for Russia's current behavior in the law of international practice.
Although Putin knew that he would face unprecedentedly severe sanctions, he still resolutely intervened, which was the total outbreak of humiliation and anger in Russia under the continuous strategic squeeze and blackmail of the United States and the West for 30 years. It's just that Putin, who was forced to liangshan, has exceeded many people's expectations in his decisive ways and means. Putin has indeed fought, not only for his personal future and destiny, but also for the future and destiny of the Russian nation.
02
Many Chinese do not approve of the use of force to solve the problem, but they all empathize with Putin's accusations against the United States and the West in his swastika and understand the logic of his behavior. Over the past 30 years, the US side has been pressing russia step by step, and all kinds of blackmail, deception, and threats have not been like this for China. It's just that the degree, intensity, and rhythm are different.
On July 24, 2020, the Chinese Consulate General in Houston was forced to close and U.S. officials pried open the back door to break in.
Putin said the United States is trying to destroy traditional Russian values and impose its own false values on Russia. What is the difference between the United States and China? The United States originally hoped to subvert China through "contact evolution", but China did not change color, and also opened a new road, and it became broader and broader, more and more confident, so that Biden sighed, "The rest of the world wants to know if our set is still feasible." Trump's former "national teacher" Bannon also nakedly warned, "If the United States does not act to contain China in the next 5 to 10 years, it will be completely useless." ”
The United States wants to use Ukraine to choke Russia's throat, just as the United States hung its sword at China in North Korea more than 70 years ago. Ignoring China's repeated warnings, the United States brazenly crossed the 38th Parallel and imposed war on the Chinese. After arduous weighing, China made the historic policy decision of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea and defending its homeland, and with great strength and vigor, crossed the Yalu River and fought a great war that was tragic, tragic, and rare in history. It can be said that "one punch is thrown, so as not to have a hundred punches coming".
Later, Nixon visited China and China and the United States established diplomatic relations.
On February 24, 1972, Nixon and his party, accompanied by Marshal Ye Jianying, climbed the Great Wall.
On February 28, 1972, Premier Zhou Enlai hosted Nixon at a banquet in Shanghai.
In the "Shanghai Communiqué," the US side stated that Taiwan is a part of China and that the US Government does not dispute this position.
In the "Eight? In the 17th communiqué, the US side promised to prepare to gradually reduce arms sales to Taiwan and lead to a final settlement after a period of time.
But over the years, the United States has never given up building Taiwan into an "unsinkable aircraft carrier" against Chinese mainland, and has never stopped selling arms to Taiwan. From 2017 to 2021, the Trump administration approved arms sales to Taiwan on 11 occasions, totaling more than $18 billion. Just in early February, the U.S. side again approved the provision of $100 million worth of military equipment and services to Taiwan. The United States is using the method of "cutting sausages" to constantly hollow out, blur, and distort the one-China policy. Explicitly and covertly supporting the Taiwan authorities in expanding the so-called "international space," threatening to exert pressure on countries that have established diplomatic relations with Chinese mainland and resuming diplomatic relations, and even attempting to deny the three Sino-US joint communiques. Gradually relaxing restrictions on official exchanges between the United States and Taiwan, MEMBERS of the US Congress openly flew to Taiwan by US military plane, and recently once again authorized the former chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and the senior director of Asian affairs of the White House National Security Council to lead a delegation to visit Taiwan. This kind of treachery and the continuous approaching and trampling on China's red line are only worse than the US side's step-by-step pressure on Russia on the issue of NATO's eastward expansion.
On February 26, 2022, the USS Johnson guided-missile destroyer sailed through the Taiwan Strait and publicly hyped it. Chinese the Eastern Theater of the People's Liberation Army organized troops to follow and supervise the entire operation of the US warship. (Source: South China Sea Strategic Situational Awareness Plan)
From co-opting the Group of Seven and strengthening the "Five Eyes Alliance" to upgrading the "four-sided mechanism," piecing together a trilateral security partnership, and improving bilateral alliances, the United States has forcefully discharged the anti-China "group within the group" and "circle in the circle" of "75432." Recently, the United States released a new version of the "Indo-Pacific Strategy", posing a posture to "draw the ground as a prison" and clamp China down in the "first island chain". U.S. officials say unabashedly, "We recognize the limited ability to change China, so we try to shape the strategic environment around China." This is the Asian version of NATO of the United States.
In the eyes of the US Government, suppressing and encircling China is always the first priority, and the so-called "four-sided mechanism" cobbled together by the United States, Japan, India and Australia is the best example. (Comic: Liu Rui)
On almost all issues of core interests involving China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, the United States' black hand is everywhere.
On the South China Sea issue in the early years, the US side provoked and instigated individual countries to rush to the front to take the lead, creating the illusion that China coerced and threatened small countries.
On Hong Kong-related issues, the United States has brazenly supported and connived at the anti-China and chaotic Hong Kong forces, calling smashing, looting, and burning a "beautiful landscape, and stirring up the Pearl of the Orient into a miasma of smoke. In 2019, the Azov Battalion, a Ukrainian neo-Nazi organization supported by the United States and the West, also infiltrated Hong Kong to make trouble with "black rioters" and "teach revolutionary experience."
Members of the Ukrainian neo-Nazi group Azov Battalion were present at the scene of riots in Hong Kong in December 2019.
On Xinjiang-related issues, the United States fabricated the lie of the century such as "genocide" and imposed sanctions on China's cotton, photovoltaic and other industries on trumped-up charges of so-called "forced labor". A former senior CIA official openly admitted that the so-called Xinjiang Uyghur issue is nothing more than a strategic conspiracy of the United States to confuse China from within and contain China.
On the issue of virus traceability, the United States has spread bizarre rumors such as "China-made virus theory" and "laboratory leak theory" everywhere, and has also threatened to sanction Chinese officials who "prevent the investigation of the origin of the new crown virus".
The United States inexplicably provoked a trade war against China, suppressed Chinese high-tech enterprises such as Huawei, ZTE, and ByteDance, and unscrupulously sanctioned thousands of Chinese companies, and the "entity list" became longer and longer. On the grounds of "national security," the United States has continued to interrogate and harass the repatriation of Chinese students studying abroad, and even threatened to sanction Chinese Communists... As Putin said: "The problem is not our political system or other reasons, they just don't want an independent power like Russia." "Over the past few years, the US side has imposed various sanctions, suppressions, and containments on China. China's only "fault" is that we are a big country that has taken the socialist road and has continued to succeed. In the face of goodwill in exchange for malice, in the face of the us side's step by step, more and more Chinese deeply realized that gentleness, frugality, compromise and concession cannot be exchanged for equality and respect. China has no choice but to talk with the bandits in a way that the robbers can understand, face the battle head-on, and effectively and effectively defend its own interests and dignity. Therefore, with the Sino-US Anchorage Dialogue, "the United States is not qualified to speak to China from the perspective of its position of strength" and "the old problems of the United States interfering in China's internal affairs must be changed," so there is the Tianjin meeting "two lists" and "three red lines." The United States is very uncomfortable, and the whole world slanders China for engaging in "wolf diplomacy." But in the face of the evil wolf invasion, can China only be a silent lamb to be slaughtered?
In 2021, Yang Jiechi and Wang Yi held their heads high in Anchorage to engage in dialogue with the US side. In 1900, Li Hongzhang lowered his eyebrows and negotiated with the Eight-Power Alliance.
China cherishes peace, knows very well what it does not want to do to others, and always adheres to the path of peaceful development. However, if someone just does not allow China to develop peacefully, or to prevent the Chinese people from living a good life, I am afraid that China will have to take drastic measures.
03
Some people believe that China's non-public condemnation of Russia violates the principle of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries that China has always upheld. This statement is typical of Western narratives, deliberately distorted and provoked with ulterior motives.
This can't help but remind people that during the "amendment storm" in Hong Kong in 2019, photos of Hong Kong police pulling out guns and aiming at protesters were spread wildly by the Western media. But the truth is that the Hong Kong police were besieged by "black rioters" before pulling out their guns and were threatened with their lives.
The Hong Kong police were besieged by "black rioters" elements
It is precisely because of the tragic and humiliating experience in China's modern history and the fact that it is still suffering from various interferences by the United States and the West today, China cherishes and resolutely defends sovereignty and territorial integrity more than anyone else. Mutual respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries is the basic norm of international relations and the fundamental guarantee for the survival of all countries, which must be jointly observed. But just as urban traffic must abide by the common rule of "red light stops", if the rules are only useful for the vast majority of people, but not for individual powerful and privileged people, it is an unfair rule, which will cause accidents and injuries. At present, the countries that have shouted the loudest on the issue of respecting the principle of sovereignty and territorial integrity are precisely those countries that have launched military strikes against sovereign countries such as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria in the past few years. Sometimes they justify a tube of "washing powder", and sometimes they wantonly carry out various aggressions, dismemberments, and regime changes against sovereign countries without even using any reason, causing countless casualties.
In 1999, the United States brazenly bombed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Chinese Embassy in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was bombed, and 3 Chinese journalists were killed. No wonder when Ukraine called on Serbia to condemn Putin, President Vucic was furious: first condemn the aggression of the United States and Britain against Serbia!
On 7 May 1999, the US-led NATO bombed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and brutally attacked the Chinese Embassy in the FEDERAL REPUBLIC of Yugoslavia with missiles, causing the unfortunate deaths of Shao Yunhuan, a reporter from Xinhua News Agency, Xu Xinghu, and Zhu Ying, reporters of Guangming Ribao, who were working in the embassy, and at the same time injuring dozens of people and seriously damaging the embassy buildings.
On February 22, 2022, in response to the Ukrainian ambassador to Serbia asking him to condemn Russia on the Ukraine issue, Serbian President Vucic said that he "suggest that he call Ukrainian President Zelenskiy and ask him to condemn the acts of aggression committed by the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries against Serbia."
The confrontations and injustices that are taking place in today's world are not due to the obsolescence of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, but precisely to the fact that they have not been effectively implemented. As long as international relations are still based on the position of strength, the world will still be the law of the jungle and will not be peaceful.
04
But anyone with some historical knowledge and knowledge of international relations can see very well that Ukraine has always been a pawn used by the United States and the West to contain Russia in this crisis.
In February 2014, Independence Square in the center of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, was reduced to rubble after the demonstrations, showing a comparison of Independence Square before and after the demonstrations. The 93-day demonstration killed 123 people and injured more than 2,000.
As early as 1997, George Kennan, a former U.S. diplomat known as the "father of containment," predicted that NATO's continued expansion into Russia "would be the deadliest mistake in U.S. policy throughout the post-Cold War era." In 2014, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger also publicly warned that if Ukraine wants to survive and prosper, it should not choose between the West and the East, and should not become an "outpost" between one side against the other, but should become a "bridge" connecting East and West, and should not join NATO. Unfortunately, U.S. policymakers can't listen.
Gabbard, a former member of the US House of Representatives and a Democratic candidate for the 2020 presidential election in the United States, said that it was a breakthrough. She said in an interview that if the United States wants to stop the war in Ukraine, it only needs a word from President Biden, but the United States is unwilling to promise to "not accept Ukraine to join NATO" to stop the war, because the war will give the United States a clear excuse to impose severe sanctions on Russia, and the US military-industrial complex will make a lot of money because of the war, and it is the American, Russian and Ukrainian people who pay the bill. On February 11, 2022, former US Congressman Gabbard said in an interview with Fox News that Biden could end the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and prevent the outbreak of war as long as he promised not to accept Ukraine into NATO, but they did not do so.
The situation in Ukraine has evolved to this day, the US military-industrial complex is laughing, the money bags are bulging, the Ukrainian people are crying, and Europe will reap more refugees and more insecurity.
While Ukrainian President Zelenskiy was asking for help, the United States and NATO successively stated that they would not send troops to Ukraine. At the time of the fierce war between Russia and Ukraine, Biden actually took a helicopter back to his hometown for the weekend.
On February 25, 2022, Biden and his wife left the White House and flew by helicopter to their hometown of Delaware for the weekend. Fox TV host Sean Hanny pointed out that Biden's vacation at this time was "fleeing the White House."
Zelenskiy could only wearily admit in a televised speech, "We have been abandoned." I asked directly whether Ukraine, the leader of the 27 European countries, would join NATO, and everyone was afraid and did not answer. "This is the latest example of the brutality of international politics. Those who are willing to be pawns will eventually become outcasts. If you knew that, why did you do it in the first place?
On February 25, 2022, Ukrainian President Zelenskiy said that the West had completely abandoned Ukraine. He asked the leaders of 27 European countries whether Ukraine could join NATO, but none received a reply.
Every life is precious, and awakened people will not fall prey to geopolitics. Facts have repeatedly proved that the security of all countries should be common, integrated and sustainable, and that only such security can be sustained. It is time for the parties concerned to remain more strategically sober.
The dust of the Ukraine crisis is far from settled, but in the collision of steel and iron and the fusion of blood and fire, the global order is being reshaped and the world situation has changed. The past is irretrievable, the present can still be grasped, the future must be fought for, do not "posterity mourn and do not learn from it, but also make future generations mourn the future generations."
Source: Chaoyang Shaoxia