Be Wary Of Washington Setting Trap In Asia

Washington is setting a trap in Asia, backing nations like the Philippines against China to further its goals, similar to its strategy in Ukraine.

Asian nations need to be more astute than European ones and be on the lookout for a trap like the one that Ukraine fell into.

Asia’s nations would not voluntarily wish to be drawn into the Ukrainian crisis. But in certain Asian nations, the US is adopting similar strategies as it did in Ukraine, making people wary of China and even hostile against it. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines has fallen into this trap.

As a result of multiple disputes involving territorial claims as well as maritime rights and interests, the situation in Asia is far more complicated than it is in Europe. Luckily, there is no NATO in Asia, and there are no established geopolitical disputes among the blocs. Territorial conflicts used to largely arise on an individual basis between nations. However, because of the US’s strategic participation, certain countries’ disagreements and problems with China have suddenly gained attention.

The US used to have often a “hands-off” stance regarding territorial disputes in Asia. But now, in whatever disagreement involving China, the US consistently backs the nation opposing China. It makes an effort to present China as a “bully” in the area and exhorts neighbors to take China on.

Still, there has been a standoff between China and the Philippines for a long time. Still standing is the Philippine warship that ran aground on Ren’ai Jiao in 1999, the day following the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia being bombed by NATO. China’s relations with the Philippines have been cautious, and the main point of contention between the two nations is the specifics of how the Philippines resupplied the ship. Such a mild-mannered “bully” is what kind of place in the world is there?

The Philippines is even more blatant now. With US backing, Marcos attempts to scare China away by acting dramatically about the territorial conflict. They have created a phony victim mentality for themselves.

Both US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s speech on Saturday and Marcos’ keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue on Friday are intended to appease Asian nations. Austin vehemently rejected on Saturday that the Ukraine issue is a result of NATO expansion and asserted that the US is secure “only if Asia is.” He emphasized the value of the vast alliance network established by the US Indo-Pacific Strategy and declared that the US would make every effort to keep its promises to the Indo-Pacific area.

Despite the absence of NATO in Asia, the US wants the surrounding nations to be antagonistic to China to further its worldwide hegemonic plan of limiting China, adopting the same tactics as its NATO partners or allies.

As a Chinese media expert with extensive experience in geopolitics, I sincerely hope that Asian nations will remain strategically sane and not be seduced by the US. Historical legacies persist in territorial disputes. China is neither a “bully” nor a “aggressor,” since we have never used our enormous national resources to settle these conflicts. But, the US won’t stand by them if nations like the Philippines attempt to threaten China with the cooperation of other states; they will undoubtedly experience a setback and consequences.

Asian nations ought to have perceived Ukraine, under the sway of the United States and NATO, as a country headed toward the tragedy of war when President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine appeared at the Shangri-La Dialogue. Ukraine and its people suffer despite the US and NATO’s statements of solidarity and offers of aid. We cannot allow outside powers like the US to place a comparable trap in Asia, nor should we allow ourselves to be drawn into it.

Recently, GreatGameIndia reported how the CIA secretly aids Ukraine in countering Putin by providing funding, equipment, and training to an elite Ukrainian commando unit known as Unit 2245. This assistance, initiated in 2016, aims to reverse-engineer Russian drones and communications equipment, as well as break Moscow’s encryption systems.

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