Taiwanese pretending to be asleep are hard to wake up from Russia-Ukraine conflict

Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the public opinion field in Taiwan was suddenly shocked, surprised by the instant paralysis of the Ukrainian naval and air forces, and after the battle seemed to be deadlocked, a strange "applause" began.

First, it was the performance art of Volodymyr Zelensky's so-called "shooting to civilians" and "establishing an international army". Taiwanese netizens cheered and moved from the keyboard, but few people discussed the deep meaning behind it: First, The government incites the people to become combatants, which means that the regular army of the country cannot turn the tide of the war. Therefore, it is necessary to mobilize untrained civilians and soldiers to fight against each other. Once the two sides confront each other, the streets will turn into a bloody hell; There is room for negotiation, but Zelensky would rather "turn Kyiv into Grozny", relying on half-tone assistance from NATO and the United States, rather than pragmatically discussing solutions to the predicament, let alone the public security crisis and the risk of riots that may result from "gunshots". He seems to be loyal and brave to defend the country, but in fact, Feng He is a violent tiger, and he is extremely derelict.

Second, although Taiwanese netizens were moved by Ukraine's tragic resistance and were completely immersed in the narrative atmosphere of "small and broad", they couldn't help but rejoice when they read unrealistic reports such as "frequent news of the Ukrainian army". For example, many Taiwanese netizens have rumored that "The Ghost of Kyiv" (The Ghost of Kyiv) believes that Ukraine has the first European air combat ace after World War II, which can kill Su-25 and Su-27 with a single MiG-29. , Su-35, MiG-29, including 6 Russian fighter jets, even if the "driver's identity photo" circulated on the Internet has been confirmed to be a piece of cake, netizens are still discussing it frequently and enjoying it. In addition, exaggerated reports such as "anti-tank weapons have become a nightmare for the Russian army" have made many Taiwanese netizens think that Ukraine's victory is in sight and the Russian army has been cornered, which is seriously inconsistent with the actual situation of the Ukrainian army being gradually surrounded.

In short, although Taiwan did not participate in the Russian-Ukrainian war, it has performed two types of plot projections through the far-reaching Internet platforms: the tragedy of "Better to be broken than tiles", and "Marvel heroes kill the Quartet". The Hollywood blockbuster, as if there are two Ukraines in the world, one fighting hard and the other about to surround Moscow. The entanglement of such contradictory narratives not only exposes the collective blindness of Taiwanese in the face of conflict, but also reflects their indifference in the changing situation but unaware.

The Russian-Ukrainian conflict in the eyes of Taiwanese

In all fairness, despite structural factors such as NATO's continued eastward expansion and Russia's refusal to sit still, the Russia-Ukraine conflict is, after all, a war that could have been avoided and harmed by control.

Since the Crimea crisis in 2014, Russia has taken the first step to counterattack; the instability of Udong for the next eight years is Russia's long wait for Kyiv and Washington; April and November 2021 Since then, the border of the Russian army and Chen Bing has been Moscow's ultimatum to all parties. During this process, as long as Ukraine's position softens, or NATO and the United States can exercise a little self-restraint and take Russia's request for consultation seriously and issue written assurances, the current situation will not evolve to what it is today.

After the conflict began on February 24, although Russia was the undisputed invader, the attitudes of Kyiv and Europe and the United States also intensified the war. First of all, Zelensky was immersed in the aura of a "national hero", and he was extremely emotional in the face of the media cameras, and even did not hesitate to fire guns and release prisoners. As a result, before the Russian army stormed Kyiv, there were already many guns in the city. The looted security incident; and at the crucial negotiating table, Ukraine wasted time and opportunity. The first round of negotiations actually demanded that Russia, which has a military advantage, withdraw unconditionally from the Donbas region and Crimea. The second round of negotiations The Russian delegation was made to wait all night, and the Ukrainian delegation arrived late. The low willingness of the Kyiv authorities to negotiate can be seen at a glance.

In all fairness, the Ukrainian army has now been surrounded by the Russian army in pincers in the east, the big city Kherson was taken on March 2, and the fall of Kharkiv and Mariupol also took place. It is only a matter of time, but Zelensky still has the calmness of the mountain that has collapsed in front of him, probably because he believes in the myth of the United States and NATO, and believes that the omnipotent West will never let the situation get out of control, so he has no fear and practice negotiation lightly. However, looking at the so-called "righteousness" of NATO and the United States, they are only continuing to assist asymmetric combat weapons, and they want to make both Russia and Ukraine suffer. Forced to talk, all the way to substantive occupation.

The above process shows Zelensky's importance and also exposes the cold-blooded hypocrisy of NATO and the United States. However, the grandstanding of the former has become a gorgeous crown in the eyes of Taiwanese people who "would rather die than surrender" and "defend the country with loyalty and bravery"; the latter's fanatical ignorance of human life, in the eyes of Taiwanese people, is a "coalition of the democratic and free world encircling Russia". act of righteousness".

In the final analysis, Taiwanese generally do not understand the origin of the conflict and do not know who is to blame. Long before the war broke out, they preconceived and accepted the script arrangement of Ukraine's purity, NATO's righteousness, and Russia's wolf ambitions. Therefore, although the development of the war follows the logic of strength. ——The Russian side pushed hard, the Ukrainian people were displaced, and the West pretended to support. The Taiwanese still need two sets of contradictory narratives to fulfill their wishful understanding of the conflict, that is, although the Ukrainian army is over, but because "justice will prevail", it is "invincible". ", just as the Russian army clearly continued to advance, but "represented evil" and "disintegrated".

A person who pretends to be asleep can't wake up

Such a bizarre imagination, although the reason for projecting cross-strait relations and seeing Russia as another China, is more due to Taiwanese people's obsession with the "liberal" order. The so-called "liberalism" does not only refer to the philosophical trend of thought since the 17th century, but generally refers to the international power system centered on the will of the United States in the post-Cold War era.

In this system, pro-American political entities such as Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea rely on the dual pillars of spirituality and physics. The former is the "parliamentary democracy" regime and "liberal" belief radiated from Europe and the United States, while the latter is related to the The US dollar and the US military are inextricably linked. For many years, the United States has used ideological, financial, military and other powers to win over allies, exclude dissidents, and arrange an international order that suits its liking.

Take the 20-year anti-terrorism war in the Middle East as an example. The Western coalition forces led by the United States have committed countless war crimes and violated countless international laws, but they have not been targeted by the public like Russia this time. The key is the lifeline of international media and finance. In his own hands, the former can whitewash the bloodstains in the name of "liberation" and "righteous war", while the latter allows players and referees from Western countries to not need to worry about being kicked out of SWIFT and other large-scale sanctions.

In short, the world has indeed experienced a period of "peaceful rule of the world" under the dual stability maintenance of the United States through discourse and strength. Even if there are a few discordant "murmurs", it is just an inopportune time when the boat crosses the water without a trace. However, this time the conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out, but it was Russia who held Ukraine hostage and crashed into this system with the lives of the two countries. As a result, not only Russia and Ukraine were scarred, but the "liberal" international order was also riddled with holes.

First of all, Russia dared to take the risk of the world to fight on the front line of NATO, which means that the US military’s intimidation and resistance are not as good as in the past, and the false “security promises” are even more vulnerable. Moscow dares to give it a shot after weighing the pros and cons; second Although the United States still resorts to economic sanctions to double-team Russia, it is no longer invincible. Looking at Asia, only Japan, South Korea and Singapore are willing to follow, which shows that the multi-dimensional deepening of global interdependence has made it difficult for a single tree to become a forest; third, although European and American media are willing to follow Mobilizing public opinion to encircle and suppress Russia, but also met with various counterattacks. First, netizens in China and India collectively condemned the hypocrisy of the West, and many Western scholars criticized NATO and the United States for being to blame. Although this conflict occurred between Russia and Ukraine, it has caused the "liberal" international order to be in chaos, and the three major fronts of military, financial and public opinion have been on fire one after another.

Although Taiwan was shocked by the drastic changes, it was clearly not on the verge of awakening. After all, it was on the front line of danger in this order. If it were not for the long-term support and arms sales of the United States, the regime would have ceased to exist. Although the Ukrainian flames show that the U.S. hegemony is approaching its twilight years, Taiwan, which has been sheltered for a long time, does not seem to be able to get rid of its policy inertia and still insists on walking with the "liberal" international order. main body. If things go on like this, the next domino that will collapse in order may fall in the Taiwan Strait.

The original text was published on 2022/3/7 " Multidimensional News "