Falsehood 8: By not supporting the vote to condemn Russia at the UN General Assembly, China is standing on the wrong side of history.
Reality check: Most of the countries in the world including China and other developing countries have legitimate concerns and share similar positions on Ukraine. Most countries disapprove of addressing disputes through wars and sanctions.
◆In recent communication with China, leaders and foreign ministers of countries including France, Germany, Indonesia, South Africa, Cambodia, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Pakistan, Zambia, Algeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India, Switzerland and Myanmar have all expressed support that the Ukraine crisis should be resolved through dialogue for peace.
◆On March 2, 2022, when the UN General Assembly voted on the draft resolution titled "Aggression against Ukraine" sponsored by Ukraine and a number of countries, countries who voted in favor have a combined population of 3.3 billion, less than half of the world total. An analysis by Der Spiegel, a German weekly magazine, suggests that while the result may seem clear on a country-by-country basis, it was surprising in another perspective: countries that abstained, which included India and South Africa, represent a combined population of more than four billion, and some of the countries who did vote yes have refused to join Western sanctions.
https://worldmags.net/564912-der-spiegel-nr3-2022.html
◆Sudheendra Kulkarni, former close aide to former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, wrote in an article that the conflict in Ukraine has created a situation requiring India and China to coordinate their perspectives and actions since both have friendly relations with Moscow, and that India's independent foreign policy and exercise of its "strategic autonomy" have been seen in its refusal to be wooed by the US administration to take an anti-Russia stand.
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/time-for-india-china-to-mend-their-ties-379259
◆The United States has long imposed an embargo and economic sanctions on Cuba in defiance of resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly. On June 23, 2021, a total of 184 countries voted in favor of a resolution at the UN General Assembly to demand the end of the US embargo and economic sanctions on Cuba, for the 29th year in a row, with only the United States and Israel voting against it. The United States has not yet fully lifted its blockade against Cuba.
◆In December 2021, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution co-sponsored by Russia and more than 30 other countries, condemning Nazism, neo-Nazism and all forms of racism. Only the United States and Ukraine voted against it. Since 2015, the United States has consistently voted against similar resolutions submitted by Russia.
https://www.rt.com/russia/543448-unga-resolution-condemns-nazis/
◆In an interview with the CBS in 1996, former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, then US ambassador to the United Nations, responded to the news that 500,000 children had died in Iraq as a result of US sanctions by saying that "We think the price is worth it."
http://sanctionskill.org/2021/10/06/sanctions-punish-children-and-the-most-vulnerable-oregon-foreign-policy-watch/
◆Over the past two decades or so, the United States has conducted tens of thousands of air strikes in places including Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and Syria. The number of innocent civilians killed could be anywhere between 22,000 and 48,000.
https://archive.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/170-sanctions/41952.html
◆In March 1999, the US-led NATO forces bombed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for 78 consecutive days without authorization of the UN Security Council, killing at least 2,500 innocent civilians, and injuring about 10,000, most of whom were civilians.
https://sputniknews.com/20220324/vucic-slams-natos-ridiculous-russia-accusations-over-ukraine-recalls-illegal-bombing-of-serbia-1094146800.html
◆On August 29, 2021, a US drone strike against a car in Kabul killed 10 civilians, including seven children. On December 13, 2021, the Pentagon announced that no US military personnel would face any kind of punishment or be held accountable for the strike.
http://edition.cnn.com/2022/01/19/politics/military-releases-videos-august-drone-strike-killed-civilians/index.html
Falsehood 9: It is a mistake for China not to support US sanctions against Russia.
Reality Check: Both history and reality have proved that instead of bringing peace and security, sanctions would only lead to a lose-lose or no-win situation. Sanctions are never a fundamental or effective solution to problems. On the contrary, imposing sanctions is like "putting out fire with firewood", and will only make things worse. Dialogue and negotiation is the only way for resolving the Ukraine crisis.
◆Of the 233 sovereign states and regions in the world, 185 have not participated in the sanctions against Russia. More than 140 of the 190-odd UN member states, including Turkey, a NATO member, have not joined such sanctions. BRICS countries, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states and observer states, and OPEC members are all opposed to the sanctions against Russia initiated by the United States and some other NATO countries.
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-03-31/If-sanctions-work-why-do-we-still-need-dialogue--18QrDxBrTzi/index.html
◆6.5 billion vs. 1.1 billion, this is the population of countries and regions that have not participated in Russia-related sanctions against those who have done so. Among this, 4.8 billion people have explicitly opposed such sanctions.
◆Brazilian Foreign Minister Carlos Franca recently criticized the US and European sanctions against Russia and expressed the view that the unilateral and selective sanctions are illegal under international law. According to him, these sanctions will expand regional conflicts to the global level, and cause severe secondary harm to other countries, particularly the developing countries, while developed European economies will also suffer and face grim challenges such as energy shortages.
https://br.sputniknews.com/20220324/carlos-franca-critica-sancoes-aplicadas-a-russia-e-defende-posicao-solidaria-de-bolsonaro-com-21964575.html
◆According to an article titled "The Messy Middle" published by the New York Times, most Western countries' support for Ukraine, including sending weapons and imposing sanctions on Russia, could give the impression of a united global response to Russia's military operation. But that isn't the case. Most of the world's countries, including many "democracies", have not shipped aid to Ukraine or joined in sanctions, occupying the middle ground.
http://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/18/briefing/russian-invasion-response-world-sanctions.html
◆By the end of 2021, the United States had had more than 9,400 sanctions in effect, a nearly tenfold increase from 20 years ago. The US Government Accountability Office concluded that not even the federal government was aware if and when the sanctions were in effect, and that officials at the Departments of State, Commerce and the Treasury claimed that they had not conducted agency assessments of the effectiveness of sanctions in achieving broader US foreign policy goals.
https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/Treasury-2021-sanctions-review.pdf
https://www.realclearworld.com/2021/09/16/the_united_states_of_sanctions_794634.html
◆In April 2019, a study by the Washington-based Center for Economic Policy Research revealed that US sanctions against Venezuela have caused more than 40,000 deaths from 2017 to 2018.
https://wap.bjd.com.cn/news/2022/04/11/10068243.shtml
◆It is estimated that the US economic sanctions against Afghanistan after its withdrawal from the country could kill more civilians than the two decades of war.
https://wap.bjd.com.cn/news/2022/04/11/10068243.shtml
◆The OECD estimated that global economic growth will be more than 1 percentage point lower this year as a result of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the sanctions, while inflation could rise by about a further 2.5 percentage points on aggregate across the world. Europe would face a cold winter and spikes in natural gas prices.
http://www.rdcy.org/index/index/news_cont/id/693192.html
◆US inflation has hit a 40-year high recently. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that Americans will likely see another year of "very uncomfortably high" inflation due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. An economist at Allianz, Europe's largest insurance company, estimated the US inflation rate would peak at "very close or above 10 percent" because of the crisis.
http://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/12/economy/comsumer-price-inflation-march/index.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/10/treasury-secretary-janet-yellen-says-inflation-could-be-high-for-a-year.html
https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/el-erian-says-ukraine-war-effect-to-spur-u-s-inflation-higher
Energy prices in Europe are at record highs, with electricity, heating and transport bills rising in many countries, as well as the prices of food and some daily necessities. According to German media, the current situation in Europe is very similar to the oil crisis in the 1970s, as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has led to soaring oil prices and a high risk of inflation and economic recession.
http://www.mdr.de/geschichte/zeitgeschichte-gegenwart/wirtschaft/oelpreis-benzinpreise-spritpreise-tankstellen-schock-100.html
Data released on April 8 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations suggests that the global food price registered a giant leap in March due to the conflict in Ukraine, up by 12.6 percent from February, reaching a new high. The fighting has left much of Ukraine's arable land uncultivated. In April, spring plowing started in only 30 to 50 percent of the planned area, which means 50 million tons of global grain supplies will be affected.
https://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/foodpricesindex/en/
https://en.mercopress.com/2022/03/23/ukraine-anticipates-spring-crops-cut-by-half-only-7-out-of-15-million-hectares-were-sown
◆According to the first research report on US sanctions against Russia released by the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, the all-out US sanctions against Russia have had a serious negative impact on the world, including Europe and Russia, leading to global inflation, supply chain shocks, and slowdown of economic recovery.
http://www.rdcy.org/index/index/news_cont/id/693192.html
◆Gita Gopinath, the Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, said that financial sanctions imposed on Russia would gradually dilute the US dollar's dominance, which might to some extent fragment the international monetary system.
https://www.businesstoday.in/crypto/story/gita-gopinath-says-sanctions-on-russia-will-boost-crypto-reduce-dollar-dominance-328258-2022-04-01
◆Greek international law expert Sarigiannidis said that "The Western governments do not need a Russian people that would demonize the West. I think it is in their interests to end these sanctions as soon as possible."
https://content-static.cctvnews.cctv.com/snow-book/index.html?toc_style_id=feeds_default&share_to=wechat&item_id=4086689206107585002&track_id=209513E9-4A92-4876-B269-BA57E5C84AAD_668826834984
Falsehood 10: The Russia-Ukraine conflict is "democracy vs autocracy".
Reality Check: The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is a geopolitical rivalry caused by the Cold War mentality. The "democracy vs autocracy" narrative produced by the United States on the Russia-Ukraine conflict is a perfect example of its Cold War mentality.
◆On April 1, 2022, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore said during his dialogue with the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board that "on US-China, it is one of the things which will be complicated by Ukraine. America asks why China does not stand with it. You have to be very careful not to define the problem with Ukraine in such a way that automatically, China is already on the wrong side, for example, by making this a battle of democracies against autocracies".
https://www.zaobao.com/realtime/singapore/story20220410-1261411
https://www.pmo.gov.sg/Newsroom/PM-Lee-Hsien-Loong-at-the-Dialogue-with-Wall-Street-Journal-Editorial-Board-Apr-2022
◆In an article published on the website of East Asia Forum on December 7, 2021, Baogang He, Professor and Chair of International Relations at Deakin University, wrote, "...framing US-China strategic competition in terms of democracy versus autocracy is a poor strategy. It will intensify global polarization and fuel geopolitical competition at a time when international solidarity is desperately needed to deal with climate change and other shared challenges. The democracy-versus-autocracy framework provides a poor foundation for the 'new Cold War' between the United States and China."
https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2021/12/07/bidens-misguided-framing-of-us-china-rivalry-as-democracy-versus-autocracy/
◆ In the name of "spreading democracy", the United States promoted the "Neo-Monroe Doctrine" in Latin America, incited "color revolutions" in Eurasia, and directed from behind the scenes the "Arab Spring" in West Asia and North Africa, bringing chaos and disasters to many countries and seriously undermining world peace and stability. Now, again in the name of "democracy", the United States is actually dividing the international community, creating division, and undermining the progress toward greater democracy in international relations.
◆In May 2021, the Latana polling company of Germany and the Alliance of Democracies Foundation (founded by Anders Rasmussen, former Prime Minister of Denmark and NATO Secretary General) released a Democracy Perception Index Report 2021, which is based on a survey conducted among over 50,000 respondents in 53 countries. According to the report, 44 percent of the respondents are concerned that the United States threatens democracy in their country.
◆ Shakeel Ramay, Chief Executive Officer of the Asian Institute of Eco-civilization Research and Development, wrote that "The West has launched a campaign to show solidarity with Ukraine. The slogans of sovereignty, human rights and a rule-based global system are back in business. The West is trying to act as a staunch protector of values, human rights and sovereignty. It is skillfully crafting a campaign and a narrative, which suits its geo-political and geo-economic agenda."
http://news.gmw.cn/2022-03/18/content_35594961.htm
◆US filmmaker Oliver Stone said in an interview that the essence of US democracy is money politics. The United States has styled itself as the model of democracy, yet it is willfully violating international rules and creating division. When it takes 14 billion dollars to elect a president, you wonder what kind of democracy it is. You can't even get a congressman to talk to you unless you pay or you have a business interest. The US government is "totally corrupt".
https://english.cctv.com/2021/12/06/VIDEQlgxOv8kQsqvgrWatpqU211206.shtml
◆US Congressman Mo Brooks has revealed that chairmanships of major committees of the US Congress must be purchased, with the price, charged by both parties, depending on the importance of the committee and a minimum bid of one million US dollars. Special interest groups run Washington, and public policy debates are very corrupt, which is an important reason why the US government has been unable to respond effectively to many challenges.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7esevHM5l3A
◆Winners of 91 percent of US congressional elections are candidates with greater financial support. Ordinary voters are wooed only when their votes are wanted. They are ignored once the election is over. The flaws of the electoral system are all too obvious. For instance, gerrymandering, the prevailing practice of redrawing electoral districts, undermines fairness and justice.
Falsehood 11: Ukraine today would become Taiwan tomorrow. If the Chinese mainland "pursues reunification with Taiwan by force", the United States will impose sanctions on China just as it did on Russia, and China will face severe consequences.
Reality check: The Taiwan question and the Ukraine issue are different in nature. The Taiwan question is a legacy of the Chinese civil war. Taiwan has always been an inalienable part of China's territory, and the Taiwan question is entirely China's internal affair.
◆A total of 181 countries, including the United States, have established and developed diplomatic relations with China on the basis of the one-China principle. But while stressing respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity on Ukraine, the United States has blatantly trampled on the red line of the one-China principle on the Taiwan question. This is nothing but sheer double standard.
◆In 1943, leaders of China, the United Kingdom and the United States issued the Cairo Declaration, stating clearly that all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Taiwan and the Penghu Islands, shall be restored to China. In 1945, the Potsdam Declaration reiterated that the terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out. All this shows unequivocally that in the international community, there is no controversy at all regarding China's territorial sovereignty over Taiwan.
◆In October 1971, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758 with an overwhelming majority, which decided to restore the lawful seat of the People's Republic of China at the UN. The resolution resolved the issue of China's UN representation in political, legal and procedural terms once and for all. The official legal opinions of the Office of Legal Affairs of the UN Secretariat clearly stated that "the United Nations considers 'Taiwan' as a province of China with no separate status", "authorities in Taipei are not considered to ... enjoy any form of governmental status", and that the region should be referred to as "Taiwan, Province of China".
◆The one-China principle and the three Sino-US joint communiques constitute the political foundation of China-US relations. In 1971, the United States declared that it "acknowledges the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China", that it would not repeat the phrase that the status of Taiwan is undetermined, and that it had not supported and would not support movements for "Taiwan independence". President Richard Nixon affirmed the above principles to Premier Zhou Enlai during his visit to China in 1972.
◆In the Joint Communique of the People's Republic of China and the United States of America (the Shanghai Communique) signed on February 27, 1972, the United States declared that it "acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China. The US government does not challenge that position" and that it "affirms the ultimate objective of the withdrawal of all US forces and military installations from Taiwan. In the meantime, it will progressively reduce its forces and military installations on Taiwan as the tension in the area diminishes".
◆In the Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America (the Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations) signed on December 16, 1978, the United States stated that it "recognizes the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China. Within this context, the people of the United States will maintain cultural, commercial and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan" and that "[t]he government of the United States of America acknowledges the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China".
◆In the Joint Communique between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America signed on August 17, 1982 (the August 17 Communique), the United States reiterated that "it has no intention of infringing on Chinese sovereignty and territorial integrity, or interfering in China's internal affairs, or pursuing a policy of 'two Chinas' or 'one China, one Taiwan'" and that "it does not seek to carry out a long-term policy of arms sales to Taiwan, that its arms sales to Taiwan will not exceed, either in qualitative or in quantitative terms, the level of those supplied in recent years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and China, and that it intends gradually to reduce its sale of arms to Taiwan, leading, over a period of time, to a final resolution".
◆Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, successive US administrations have promised to abide by the three Sino-US joint communiques. However, not long after establishing diplomatic ties with China, the United States passed the so-called "Taiwan Relations Act", followed by an internal offer of "Six Assurances" to Taiwan, both in breach of US commitments made in the three joint communiques, and the one-China principle established by the UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 and widely observed by the international community. Hence they are illegal and void from the very beginning.
◆For some time now, the United States has been bending, changing and back-peddling on its commitment on the Taiwan question in terms of its words and deeds, trying to hollow out the one-China principle.
Politically, the United States has introduced a number of Taiwan-related acts and raised the level of engagement with Taiwan. In 2018, then US President Donald Trump signed the "Taiwan Travel Act", encouraging high-level visits between US and Taiwan officials. The "US Consolidated Appropriations Act 2022" asks the administration to distinguish Taiwan from the mainland of China when making maps of China, a flagrant challenge to the one-China principle.
Military-wise, the United States has never stopped selling arms to Taiwan, and has frequently sent warships through the Taiwan Strait. Since 1979, the United States has delivered 107 rounds of arms sales to Taiwan, including offensive weapons such as anti-radiation missiles, heavy torpedoes and F-16V fighters. Under the Trump presidency, US arms sales to Taiwan totaled nearly 20 billion US dollars. Just over a year in office, the Biden administration has announced three rounds of arms sales to Taiwan. In 2020, US warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait 13 times, the highest record in 14 years.
Internationally, the United States has worked to help Taiwan expand its so-called "international space". In October 2021, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement that the United States encourages all UN members to join it in supporting Taiwan's active and meaningful participation in the UN system and the international community, and invited Taiwan to the so-called "Leaders' Summit for Democracy" hosted by the United States. All other participants to the summit were sovereign states.
◆Under the current US administration, a number of US congressmen and former political leaders have visited Taiwan. In August 2020, then US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar visited Taiwan. In September 2020, then US Under Secretary of State Keith Krach visited Taiwan. After the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Mike Mullen, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, headed a delegation of former senior defense and security officials to Taiwan. Soon after that, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Taiwan. The United States also planned a visit to Taiwan by Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives. A bipartisan US congressional delegation headed by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez visited Taiwan, which triggered much media hype-up by the "Taiwan independence" forces. What the United States has done is a malicious provocation against China's sovereignty and gross interference in China's internal affairs, and will send out an extremely dangerous political signal.
◆The US "Indo-Pacific strategy" is becoming a byword for bloc politics. From strengthening the Five Eyes to peddling the Quad, from putting together AUKUS to tightening bilateral military alliances, the United States is staging a "five-four-three-two" formation in the Asia-Pacific, aiming at an Indo-Pacific version of NATO and a repeat of "Ukraine crisis" in Asia.
◆The US attempts for breakthroughs on the Taiwan question show no regard to the common will of the UN membership embodied in Resolution 2758, contravene the consensus of the international community, undermine the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and jeopardize peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
China must be reunified and will definitely be reunified. The Chinese side will strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification with utmost sincerity and efforts. That said, should the "Taiwan Independence" forces make provocations, force our hands or even cross the red line, China will be compelled to take resolute measures. ■