US troops deploy for Europe from Pope Army Airfield at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on February 3, 2022. Photo: AFP

The situation in Ukraine has almost hit a boiling point. US President Joe Biden told its European allies that Russian forces could attack Ukraine on February 16, namely tomorrow. The US also announced the temporary closure of its embassy in Kiev and the evacuation of a small number of diplomats to the Western Ukraine city of Lviv. Many of Ukraine's wealthy fled on private jets. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has proclaimed Feb. 16 as "Unity Day", when flags are to be raised and the national anthem to be played. Russia denounced the "hysteria" in the West about an "impending Russian invasion" as "absurd." The situation is confusing. 

The world will keep watching the situation in Ukraine. Tomorrow is Feb. 16, and if Russia does not attack on that date, it will be a slap on the face of US intelligence agencies and President Biden will be the biggest maker and purveyor of rumors. 

The Ukraine issue alone already frustrates the West. However, recently Western public opinion has been linking the situation in Ukraine into the Taiwan question, claiming that if Russia succeeds in Ukraine, the Chinese mainland will follow suit to win over Taiwan and may even take action against Taiwan at the same time. A recent statement by Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton put the Ukraine issue side by side with the Taiwan question, and Western parliamentarians and media have made similar analyses. The Taiwan authority has set up a so-called special task force to study the impact of the situation in Ukraine on Taiwan's security. Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen claimed that "Taiwan has faced military threats and intimidation from China for a long time" and " we empathize with Ukraine's situation."

Such clamor equates Taiwan's political status with that of Ukraine. As we all know, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, and one China is internationally recognized. Even in the US' anti-China public opinion system, Taiwan's status has been vaguely dealt with.

There are only a dozen tiny countries supporting Taiwan's so-called sovereignty. The goal of those extreme anti-China forces is to elevate the global strategic influence of the Taiwan question and expand and intensify the participation of the whole West on the Taiwan question. Furthermore, they have deeper intents. The US is now relatively in decline in terms of national power, and its control over Europe and the Asia-Pacific is waning. Against this backdrop, it attempts to gradually disrupt Europe and Asia on the grounds of providing security support to the two regions, and then reap the benefits.

It is noticeable that by insisting on NATO's eastward expansion and refusing to provide security guarantees to Russia, the US position is much tougher than that of European powers like France and Germany. Most European countries are now very worried, and European leaders have been in constant contact with the Kremlin, in a bid to deescalate the situation. French President Emmanuel Macron also said that "There is no security for Europeans if there is no security for Russia." It clearly diverts from Washington's tone.

The one country which is least afraid of seeing Europe trapped in chaos is the US. Once Europe falls in disturbances, its capital will go to the US and European countries will have to follow the US more closely on security issue, and the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline project may also be ruined in that scenario. The US is playing a big calculative game in Europe. 

It is the same in Asia. The US cannot stop China's rise, so it is committed to messing up the region. One of its tactics is stirring up troubles on the Taiwan question, and territorial disputes between China and its neighbors. Washington has been trying to hype up the confrontation in the region. 

After former US President Donald Trump took office, he made China the number one strategic competitor of the US and launched the Indo-Pacific Strategy. In the past few years, the Taiwan question has lost its flexibility, and the Tsai Ing-wen authority has completely turned to the US and become hostile to the Chinese mainland.

As China-India relations deteriorate, the border issue between the two countries has become intractable. Australia has adopted a hostile policy toward China, while Japan has gotten increasingly tough toward China. Who can say if there is no connection between these changes, or that the US is not the one pushing these countries from behind?

The outbreak of war in either Ukraine or the Taiwan Straits will be very destructive. Neither Russia nor China wants to break the current stalemate through war. One could argue that a war would not benefit the US either. Such an analysis is based on common sense. Yet, an extreme fever of a cold war has been formed in the US political and public opinion communities. Thus, rationality no longer dominates US policy in Europe and the Asia-Pacific, and extremism is becoming more and more popular.

The extreme elites of the US don't fear chaos in the world. They think no matter how turbulent Europe and Asia are, the US will be suffering the least. Washington has repeatedly stated that once a war breaks out in Ukraine, the US troops will not be part of it. On the Taiwan question, the US hasn't promised to send troops if there is a war in the Taiwan Straits. Thus, the US has no bottom line as it incites regional radicalism and extremism, forcing Russia to attack, and pushing China to make strong responses. 

The biggest destroyer of world peace is the US. The Taiwan authorities will eventually become cannon fodder if they blindly follow the US. The European and Asian countries, without a sober understanding, will fall into a trap, serving as the strategic stepping stones for Washington or even as its grindstone. The world needs to jointly reject the US' evil script. The countries' shared future should not be ruined by Washington.