林德宜：乌克兰战争──中国对西方指责的回应

有一种未经证实的说法指，美国外交政策教科书里美国对中国的外交策略上，会有四个步骤。第一步：先制造一个问题（问题与中国完全无关），第二步：指责中国在解决该问题上做得不够好，第三步：随著问题的恶化不断指责中国，第四步：指责中国制造了这个问题。

随著乌克兰战争进入第四周，政治化、相互指责和指责的程度达到了非理性和疯狂的新强度。西方媒体的报道继续充斥著乌克兰战争受害者的图像，对俄罗斯暴行的描述，对乌克兰总统和军队坚决防御的赞扬，以及呼吁以军事解决方案，确保西方民主战胜俄罗斯专制的评论。

尤其是俄罗斯总统普京，更是西方媒体和公众愤怒的目标，不管是评论文章或影像似乎都竞相地讨论著谁能最有效地妖魔化他，把普京标签为最恶劣的战争罪犯。

除了普京和俄罗斯成为西方媒体攻击的对象外，中国和其国家主席习近平也成为好战主义攻击的主要目标。因此，来自美国、英国、澳洲以及日本、印度和其他国家的西方友好英文媒体的偏颇新闻报道暗示，习近平在北京冬奥会前与普京的会晤中，曾要求俄罗斯把入侵乌克兰时间点，推迟到冬奥运会结束后。

这一荒谬的说法不仅没有证据支持，而且在俄入侵后，俄罗斯和白俄罗斯的冬残奥选手被禁赛事实表明，这两个事件之间没有联系。如果西方指责中国的说法可以接受，类似的论点也可套用在美国方面，即普京已经私下就入侵的时间点与拜登协议安排好，以在3月1日拜登首次发表国情咨文之前，确保他和拜登都能从国内和全球的关注中同样受益。  

引起人们对习近平的仇恨

一些报道甚至更加离谱，这旨在引起人们对习近平和中国的仇恨。遵循美国外交政策的现行原则，美国国会政客们最喜欢的《华盛顿邮报》之最新评论文章就提出了一个荒谬的说法，即习近平是俄侵乌克兰事件背后的同谋者。

不幸的是，在任何战争中，第一个牺牲者往往就是真理。然而，为了确保真相不被掩盖，在得出结论之前，我们必须进行必要的研究和数据收集。

在西方媒体制造的战争迷雾中，人们往往忽视或遗忘的是，美国总统拜登、英国首相约翰逊和法国总统马克龙都面对著国内政治的问题，并很可能导致他们下台，而诱使普京和俄罗斯卷入这场西方机会主义煽动起的最新战场，可确保他们个人政治权力的延续。    

因此，拜登在国情咨文中不仅向世界展示了美国将在他的领导下，如何决心确保“自由”战胜“暴政”。他还吹嘘说：“我们进行了广泛而仔细的准备。我们花了数月的时间建立了一个从欧洲和美洲到亚洲和非洲的热爱自由的国家联盟，以对抗普京。我花了无数的时间来团结我们的欧洲盟友。”

现在，在欧盟成员以及英国、加拿大、日本、韩国、澳洲、纽西兰和其他国家的支持下，他能够宣称他正在“给俄罗斯带来痛苦并支持乌克兰人民”。

给予俄罗斯痛击；激起国际社会对俄罗斯恐惧症；打击俄罗斯的经济；禁止俄罗斯人参与体育、文化和其他领域活动；实施全面制裁，以惩罚普通俄罗斯人并使他们陷入贫困；提议暗杀普京，以公平或不正当的手段推翻他；甚至将责任扩大到习近平和中国，这似乎是西方媒体和西方领导人的正确道德和政治反应。

当世界其他各国看到西方近代在越南、伊拉克、阿富汗、叙利亚和其他地方以虚假的理由和欺诈性指控发动的战争时，不仅应该仔细了解迫使俄罗斯采取军事行动的根本原因，也应站稳立场，拒绝加入试图摧毁俄罗斯的西方阵营。

在这方面，中国在乌克兰问题上的立场是明确和一贯的以实现乌克兰的和平。事实上，如果要结束乌克兰的战争，这应成为西方的模式。

冰冻三尺非一日之寒

中国外长王毅在谈俄乌课题时就指出，正如中国的一句谚语所说，冰冻三尺非一日之寒。由于各种复杂的原因，乌克兰的局势变成了今天这个样子。解决复杂问题需要的是冷静的头脑和理性的思维，而不是火上浇油，这只会加剧局势的恶化。

中国认为，要解决当前的危机，我们必须坚持《联合国宪章》的宗旨和原则，尊重和保护各国的主权和领土完整。我们必须坚持安全不可分割的原则，照顾有关各方的合法安全关切。我们必须通过对话和谈判，以和平手段解决争端。而且，我们必须著眼于该地区的长期和平与稳定，并建立一个平衡、有效和可持续的欧洲安全架构。

从目前的情况来看，国际社会必须在两个优先事项上不断努力。

一个优先事项是要劝和促谈。中国在这方面已做了一些工作，与有关方面进行了密切沟通。在冲突发生的第二天，习近平主席与普京总统通了电话，表达了中方希望俄乌两国尽早举行和谈的愿望。

普京总统也作出了积极回应，此后俄罗斯和乌克兰进行了两轮会谈。我们希望即将举行的第三轮会谈能取得进一步进展。中国认为，局势越紧张，继续谈判就越重要。分歧越大，越需要坐下来进行谈判。中国准备继续发挥建设性作用，促进和平对话，并在必要时与国际社会一道进行必要的调解。另一个优先事项是防止发生大规模人道主义危机。

林德宜《乌克兰战争：中国对西方指责的回应》原文：Ukraine War: China Response to Western Finger Pointing and Blame Seeking 

The four stages of US  diplomacy:

Step 1: Create a problem (entirely unrelated to China)

Step 2: Accuse China of not doing enough to solve the problem

Step 3: Keep blaming China as the problem worsens

Step 4: Blame China for creating the problem

(Unconfirmed US Foreign Policy Textbook)

With the war in Ukraine entering its fourth week, the extent of politicking, finger pointing and blame assignment is reaching new levels of intensity, irrationality and insanity. Western media reports continue to be filled with images of Ukrainian victims of war, descriptions of Russian atrocities, praise for the resolute defence put up by Ukraine’s President and military, and commentaries rooting for a military solution to ensure the victory of western democracy over Russian autocracy. 

Russian President Putin especially is the target of Western media and public wrath with opinion pieces and sound bytes jostling on who can demonise him most and vying in labelling him with the choicest vocabulary used to describe the worst of war criminals. 

Apart from Putin and Russia becoming the victims of the western media onslaught, China and President Xi are now appearing as key targets of jingoistic propaganda. Thus slanted news reports from the US, Britain, Australia and other Western friendly English media in Japan, India and other countries are suggesting that Xi in his meeting with Putin just before the Beijing Winter Olympics had requested that the Russian invasion of Ukraine be postponed until after the end of the Olympics. 

Not only is there no evidence to support this ridiculous claim but the fact that the invasion is going on at the same time as the Paralympics in which Russian and Belarus participants have not been allowed to take part shows that there is no connection between these two episodes. If seen as acceptable, a similar argument can be made that Putin has secretly timed the invasion with Biden’s agreement to take place just before Biden’s State of Union address on 1 March to ensure that both he and Biden can benefit equally from the domestic and global attention.    

Other reports are even more twisted and calculated to arouse hatred towards Xi and China. Following what appears to be the current principles of US foreign policy, the latest opinion piece in the Washington Post, the favourite paper of US politicians in Congress, makes the ludicrous claim that Xi has been a co-conspirator in what is happening in Ukraine. 

Unfortunately in any war, the first casualty is truth. However, to ensure that truth is not cancelled, it is important to undertake the necessary research and data gathering before arriving at a conclusion.  

Ignored or forgotten in the fog of war generated by western media is how Joe Biden, Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron, facing domestic political losses that could see them out of office, may have goaded Putin and Russia into this latest opportunistic western instigated war to ensure their own personal hold on power.     

Thus, in his State of Union address Biden was not only quick to trumpet to the world how the United States, under his leadership, was resolved to ensure the victory of freedom over tyranny. He also boasted: 

“We prepared extensively and carefully. We spent months building coalitions of other freedom-loving nations in Europe and the Americas to — from America to the Asian and African continents to confront Putin.

I spent countless hours unifying our European Allies.”

Now, supported by members of the European Union as well as the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and others, he is able to proclaim that he is “inflicting pain on Russia and supporting the people of Ukraine”.

Inflicting pain; stirring up Russia phobic hysteria; cancelling Russia in the economy; banning Russian participants in sports, culture and other sectors; imposing across the board sanctions to punish and impoverish ordinary Russians; proposing the assassination of Putin and seeking his overthrow by fair or foul means; and even extending blame to Xi and China may appear the right moral and political response by the leaders of the West and western media. 

But other countries of the world that have seen the West’s recent wars in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and elsewhere waged on spurious grounds and fraudulent allegations should not only examine closely the root causes that have compelled Russia to undertake its military action. They need to stand firm and reject being drawn into the western orbit seeking to destroy Russia. 

In this regard, China’s position on Ukraine is clear and consistent in bringing about peace in Ukraine. In fact it should be the model for the West if the war in Ukraine is to end. 

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Russia relations, Ukraine,

As a Chinese proverb puts it, it takes more than one cold day to freeze three feet of ice. The situation in Ukraine has become what it is today for a variety of complex reasons. What is needed to solve complex issues is a cool head and a rational mind, not adding fuel to the fire which only intensifies the situation. China believes that to resolve the current crisis, we must uphold the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations (UN) and respect and protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. We must adhere to the principle of indivisible security and accommodate the legitimate security concerns of the parties involved. We must settle disputes by peaceful means through dialogue and negotiation. And we must keep in mind the long-term peace and stability of the region and put in place a balanced, effective and sustainable European security architecture.

As things stand, the international community must make continuous efforts on two priorities.

One priority is to facilitate dialogue for peace. China has made some efforts in this regard and had close communications with the relevant parties. On the second day of the conflict, President Xi Jinping spoke to President Vladimir Putin on the phone and expressed China’s desire to see Russia and Ukraine hold peace talks as early as possible. President Putin responded positively, and Russia and Ukraine have since had two rounds of talks. We hope that the upcoming third round will make further progress. China believes that the more tense the situation, the more important that the talks continue. The wider the disagreement, the greater the need to sit down and have negotiation. China is prepared to continue playing a constructive role to facilitate dialogue for peace and work alongside the international community when needed to carry out necessary mediation.

The other priority is to prevent a massive humanitarian crisis.

• 林德宜