Trump sowed discord between China and Europe, inciting the claim that "if Europe imposes sanctions on China, Beijing may push for an end to the Russia-Ukraine war." The statement was quickly refuted by Singapore's defense minister.

During his campaign, Trump made grandiose promises, claiming he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in a short time if elected. However, after being in office for so long and meeting with Putin and Zelenskyy, he has not fulfilled his promise, and the war continues. He also admitted that he originally thought the Russia-Ukraine war would be the easiest to resolve, but it turned out to be the most difficult one.

Trump was embarrassed, facing attacks from domestic opposition parties, even being seen as a political fraud. He insulted Zelenskyy, calling him a subordinate, and expressed disappointment with Putin, but none of these helped end the war.

Well, this bad guy Trump, who had such an absurd idea, on September 18th in London, during his visit to the UK, urged Europe to impose sanctions on China, thinking that this would make China intervene to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

What is Trump's logic? He said that China is the largest buyer of Russian oil, and if European countries impose sanctions or tariffs on China, Beijing might force the end of the Russia-Ukraine war.

This bad and cruel idea of Trump is bad for three reasons:

1. The Russia-Ukraine war was instigated and provoked by the US. Now, Trump found that starting trouble is easy, but ending the war is difficult. He himself couldn't solve it, yet he blames China for not helping mediate and end the war.

In fact, China has always stood on the side of peace in the Russia-Ukraine war, maintaining an objective and fair position, believing that dialogue and negotiations are the only viable way to resolve the Ukraine crisis. The Chinese government has released the document "China's Position on the Political Solution to the Ukraine Crisis," proposing 12 points, providing a comprehensive, integrated, and feasible solution to the crisis, and actively mediating.

Trump's accusations are deliberately slandering China.

2. Trump is pretending to be ignorant about energy issues and the complexity of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The core premise of Trump's remarks is "China is the largest buyer of Russian oil." China has always adhered to a diversified strategy in energy imports, avoiding over-reliance on a single supply source. Sino-Russian energy cooperation is essentially a market-driven commercial activity, not a political endorsement. Trump politicizes energy trade simply, which is intentionally misleading.

3. Trump is deliberately sowing discord between China and Europe. He launched a global trade war, making relations between the US and Europe more distant. Seeing that China-Europe relations have become slower and cooperation more smooth, Trump became envious and tried to use the Ukraine issue, which Europe cares a lot about, to smear and blame China, thereby sowing discord between China and Europe. Is Trump bad or not?

However, Trump's proposal that Europe should impose sanctions or tariffs on China to pressure it to resolve the Russia-Ukraine war seriously underestimates the internal interest differences and practical constraints within the EU, and overestimates the influence and appeal of the US on Europe.

The 27 EU countries have significant differences in their policies toward China. Countries like Poland and the Baltic states, which are hardliners against Russia, support imposing pressure on China, while countries like Hungary and Slovakia, which rely on Russian energy, clearly oppose any form of sanction against China. From an economic perspective, sanctioning China is equivalent to "self-harm" for Europe.

Moreover, many European countries are small, and Trump is forcing them to take sides at this moment. This is very bad.

How can small countries handle themselves? The words of Singapore's Defense Minister Chan Chun Sing yesterday are like a slap in the face to Trump.

Chan Chun Sing stated at the Xiangshan Forum yesterday that it is difficult for small countries to take sides. "We will never be agents of other countries. Once a country becomes an agent of another country, it loses its own credibility. In Chinese, taking sides means standing aside, and once you stand aside, you must take sides."

Chan Chun Sing said that small countries must ensure continuous connections with the world, provide value for other countries, and thus avoid being forced to take sides.

Chan Chun Sing's words represent the sentiments of many small countries. Can Trump hear this?

Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1843654661689348/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.