Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Taiwan island has recently expressed its concerns over the Ukraine crisis several times, exploiting it as another chance to beat the drum of the so-called threat from the Chinese mainland. The Taiwan authorities act just like a drama queen. This kind of hype is totally groundless.

"All military units continue to pay close attention to the situation in Ukraine and movements in the Taiwan Straits, continue to strengthen joint intelligence and surveillance, and gradually increase the level of combat readiness in response to various signs and threats to effectively respond to various situations," Taiwan authorities said on Saturday.

Furthermore, when interviewed by Indian news channel CNN-News18 on Friday, Joseph Wu, leader of the external affairs authority of Taiwan, said they were watching very carefully whether the mainland was going to take advantage of a West distracted by Ukraine to attack the island.

The island lies far away from Ukraine and there are no frequent exchanges between the two. The two sides have not set up representative offices with each other. What Ukraine crisis really involves is global powers such as Europe, the US and Russia, as it involves the regional security and stability of Europe and the strategic relationship between the US and Russia, two nuclear powers. Taiwan island's concerns over Ukraine tensions come as a bit odd. It will be nothing more than another attempt to echo Washington's hype of the threat from the Chinese mainland.  

"The Ukraine tensions to a large extent have been hyped up by the US. So has the so-called possibility of the Chinese mainland attacking the island. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority has also fueled the fire over the latter. It comes from the needs of both the US and Taiwan's DPP in seeking own political purposes," Xin Qiang, deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times. "DPP authority hopes its slandering over the Chinese mainland can help serve its elections, while the US intends to ramp up its arms sales and integrate Taiwan island into its geopolitical strategy by doing so. Furthermore, as Washington has already labeled China and Russia as its top rivals, it believes calumniating on the two countries can pile more pressure on them among the international community."

In January, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Washington and the media of fueling panic amid the US repeatedly touting that Russia will soon invade Ukraine. And such panic weighed on the economy while there were "no tanks in the streets," according to Reuters. Taiwan authorities should learn from the current crisis in Ukraine. It will be Taiwan itself which bears the loss when the US intensively and groundlessly advertises the Chinese mainland's "invasion" over Taiwan.

The root cause of the Ukraine issue is that the US has promoted NATO's eastward expansion unrestrainedly, pushing Russia into a corner. Washington intends to instigate wars. The tensions in Ukraine, or even a war, are in the best interests of Washington. Ukraine will suffer the biggest loss if a war breaks out, followed by Russia, and then the EU. The US, which is located far away from the Ukrainian frontline, will become a safe haven for global capital. As a result, Ukraine will be messed up. Europe will have no choice but to be further tied to the chariots of the US. And Europe's strategic autonomy will become empty talk. 

Taiwan should learn a lesson from the current Ukraine crisis. "If Taiwan island, under the constant instigation from the US, provokes war with the Chinese mainland, the biggest victim will only be the island. Taiwan has always been used as a pawn for the US to pursue its own interests," Xin noted.

To tie themselves to the US' chariot is to hand over their fate to the US. Washington will discard them at any time to serve its interests. Afghanistan is a cautionary tale and the current Ukraine crisis also serves as a warning.