Opinion | Is US trustworthy? A bloody Ukraine lesson can tell
By Edward Hei Leung, LegCo Member
Russia-Ukraine war began after Putin announced the special military operation last Thursday. Thousands of Ukrainian refugees have been flooding into eastern European countries. Yet, the West looks like sleepwalking amid the global politico-economic crisis, even though Zelensky asked for the immediate deployment of US and NATO military troops. What truly happens in Ukraine?
Sad but true, the west, particularly the US, betrays its alliance again. Let us start with the time when Budapest Memorandum was signed in 1994. At that moment, Ukraine had the third-largest reserve of nuclear weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The US had agreed to give security assurances and economic support in exchange for Ukraine's full disarmament. Now, as Ukraine's former defense minister Anriy Zahorodniuk said, Ukraine gave away the capacity for nothing. That pretty shows Ukrainians' regret, no matter how positively they had done to seek for a better, peaceful world in the first place.
Maybe the unconditional trust in the western world is one of the important reasons why Ukraine falls into a warfare with Russia. Its economy did not improve, although Ukrainians overthrew the rule of prime minister Viktor Yanukovych in the so-called Euromaidan protests. Ukraine, though equipped with a large population, fertile black soil and strong industrial base, is now 20% poorer than the time it gained independence in 1990. That is to say, for all its resources, both existing and potential, the country now is unreasonably poor.
US President Joe Biden has made clear that Americans are not willing to fight against Russia. Zelensky once aired the grievance in an emotional video address, especially to US-led NATO. "We have been left alone to defend our state. Who is ready to fight alongside us? I don't see anyone. Who is ready to give Ukraine a guarantee of NATO membership? Everyone is afraid," he added
In fact, Biden has no choice as well. As found by a recent AP-NORC poll, 72% Americans said that the US should play a minor role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, or none at all. Marco Rubio, a well-known Republican who embraces aggressive diplomatic policies, rejects any possible deploys of American forces onto Ukrainian soil, while Ted Cruz, one of Rubio's colleagues, doesn't want Biden to start a shooting war with Putin. Their points of view reflect American selfishness. When wars come, the majority of Americans are unwilling to join, despite the fact that the country gave strong promises on military support.
Back to Hong Kong, Winter on Fire, an Oscar-nominated documentary on Ukraine's revolution was screened several times during anti-extradition protest. A girl in a BBC interview shed tears hoping that Hong Kong would achieve the Ukraine-like outcome. Aside from this, we saw protestors waving US and UK flags, not to mention people seeking the arrival of US troops to protect Hong Kong people. Thanks to the enactment of National Security Law, accompanied by electoral reform, our city gets back on the right track. Now, will Ukraine story give a lesson to the whole world that the US is untrustworthy at all? Let us wait and see.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
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