WARSAW, Poland—China is testing weapons in Ukraine, which is just one of the reasons China wants the war between Russia and Ukraine to continue, according to Szu-chien Hsu, senior advisor to the president at the National Security Council of Taiwan.
The world is paying attention to Russia and Ukraine, but not China and Taiwan, Hsu said to a crowded room at the Warsaw Security Forum. “That’s the reason why I’m here,” he added with a laugh. The Chinese Communist Party claims Taiwan is a part of China, but Taiwan views itself as a separate, democratic nation.
China largely has three central motivations for the war between Russia and Ukraine to continue, Hsu said.
“First of all, if Russia is defeated, China will be left alone to be dealt with by the whole Western camp,” he told the crowd. “Second, when China and Russia are working together, they intimidate the whole world. Third, if Russia is defeated, China will have to handle Taiwan and whole world will pay attention.”
While Hsu argues China is motivated to keep the war going, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Radoslaw Sikorski says he believes “China is the only country that will actually force a ceasefire in this war.” Asked where this leaves the effort to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, retired U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus told The Daily Signal he would not look to Beijing to end the war.
Defeating Russia will require two actions, Petraeus said, adding that he is already seeing a positive movement toward his recommended steps.
First, Ukraine’s friends and allies must provide more support to prevent Russia from taking more territory and “to also help them improve their effectiveness against missile and drone attacks at night,” said Petraeus, who also served as CIA director for just over a year from 2011-2012.
In order to achieve this, Petraeus says the European Union should convert the roughly $250 billion of Russian reserves sitting in European banks to bonds, “essentially money to give to Ukraine of that amount.”
Under such a “clever scheme,” which Petraeus said the President of the European Commission is considering, Ukraine would not be required to pay the money back until Russia provides reparations to Ukraine.
Ukraine receiving “that amount of money would enable them to double their production of drones from, say, $3.5 to $4 million a year, literally, to as much as $7 to $8 million each year, and that will do an enormous amount on the front lines,” Petraeus said.
The second action required to force Russia into ending the war is to “crush the Russian war economy and … punish those who are enabling it,” Petraeus continued.
In alignment with President Donald Trump, Petraeus says stopping the foreign purchase of Russian oil and gas would greatly harm Russia economy.
“These two actions, if pursued together, I think would be the only ones that would convince [Russian President] Vladimir Putin that this war actually cannot continue, because he can’t make any progress on the ground, and he can’t make progress through the air,” Petraeus said.
Trump has increasingly voiced support for Ukraine in recent months, representing a significant change in tone toward Ukraine since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy‘s tumultuous meeting with Trump in February in which Trump told Zelenskyy he was “gambling with World War Three.”
Last week, after meeting with Zelenskyy at the United Nations in New York, Trump wrote on Truth Social:
“After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.”
Now, cautious optimism would likely be the most accurate way to describe Zelenskyy’s hope of continued U.S. support.
“Do you have 100% confidence that Donald Trump has your back?” Zelenskyy was asked after delivering live remote remarks at the Warsaw Security Forum.
The Ukrainian president laughed before saying that Trump’s attitude toward the war between Russia and Ukraine “now is just.”
“I cannot say what tomorrow will bring, because the world is changing much faster than somebody could have forecast,” Zelenskyy said. “So, as of today, the stance of President Trump is, in my view, it is truly balanced, and it supports Ukraine’s stance.”
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