Q3: Some say the Russian “invasion” of Ukraine shows that democracies are being threatened by autocracy, and also validates NATO’s eastward expansion. What is your view?
Le: This is a typical act to confuse cause and effect, and take the root cause as the prescription. NATO’s continued eastward expansion has upset security in Europe and created a big mess. It also declares that the US and NATO’s approach to security has gone broke. Given this, to resolve the crisis by further expansion would be like correcting one mistake with another. It will only lead to greater disaster.
As for the “democracy v.s. autocracy” narrative, it just sounds all too familiar. It is old script used by a certain big power to smear other countries and suppress those who disagree. They first label a country “autocracy”, followed by mud-slinging, sanctions and containment, and ultimately the brute military means. This has become their playbook, and the only purpose is to take down anyone who is not “one of them” and to preserve their hegemony. In recent years, we have seen this trick playing out repeatedly around the globe, leaving the world in instability and chaos. But this trick can no longer fool anyone, and now is time to stop!
Q4: When visiting Ukraine, the US Secretary of Defense said publicly that “we want to see Russia weakened” with the conflict. There is a view that the United States not only wants to weaken Russia, but also control Europe and let Europe bear the losses while the United States profits from the war. What is your take on this?
Le: There is a famous line in House of Cards: “Politics requires sacrifice. The sacrifice of others, of course.”
The conflict is taking place on European soil, so it is Europe that is hurt the first and the most. Some netizens are describing Europe’s current predicament by saying that “food is getting tight, energy running short, refugees increasing, unemployment rising, growth facing headwinds, and no one knows when the war will end.” Meanwhile, the United States is playing offshore balancing on the other side of the ocean, hiding comfortably from a safe distance, raking in billions with rocketing arms trade and oil and gas sales, and seeing financial capital flooding back to America. As for refugees, it is said to have taken in just about a dozen.
Such a sharp contrast could well explain why some are eager to fan the flames and disrupt Russia-Ukraine peace talks. Basically, they want to profit from the war, and control Europe, “weaken” Russia and sustain their hegemonic power at the expense of Ukraine. So they are killing many birds with one stone, and that explains why they keep doing it.
Le Yucheng: Acting on the Global Security Initiative To Safeguard World Peace and Tranquility (rdcy.org)
