(Tokyo/Berlin) Observers analyze that US President Trump's pursuit of short-term gains and his eagerness for quick results have been exploited by China and Russia to create rifts between the US and its Eurasian allies, weakening the Washington-led international security order.
A Wall Street Journal analysis published on Thursday (November 27) points out that in Europe, Russia, recognizing Trump's eagerness to end the Russia-Ukraine war and reach a commercial deal with Russia, intends to steer the Russia-Ukraine peace plan towards its own strategic goals, including the legal acquisition of large swathes of Ukrainian territory and the complete annihilation of Ukraine's hopes for NATO membership.
In Asia, Chinese President Xi Jinping aims to persuade Trump to abandon Taiwan in exchange for a trade agreement with the US that Trump has been eagerly anticipating.
Chinese and Russian leaders may perceive this as the best time to undermine US leadership in Eurasia. Christopher Johnstone, a former senior national security official in various US administrations, analyzed: "Both Chinese and Russian leaders believe they understand Trump's mindset; they also certainly realize that this is the best time for them to advance their goals and undermine US leadership in Eurasia."
Relations between China and Japan have recently become tense due to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks about a potential "Taiwan crisis." During a phone call with Trump on Monday (24th), Xi Jinping emphasized that Taiwan's return to China is an important part of the post-war international order.
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The Wall Street Journal later cited sources reporting that Trump, in a phone call with Sanae Takaichi the following day, urged her not to provoke Beijing on the Taiwan issue, and that he did not want the Taiwan issue to affect the trade settlement reached between the US and China last month; however, the Japanese government subsequently strongly denied the report's claims.
Wu Xinbo, Dean of the Institute of International Studies and Director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, did not deny that Trump's call with Takaichi immediately after his call with Xi Jinping likely encouraged Beijing; this shows that Trump does not want the Taiwan issue to affect Sino-US relations, and he wants to maintain the recent positive momentum in Sino-US relations to ensure that the possibility of a Sino-US trade agreement remains high.
While the US has not withdrawn troops from NATO, its mentality and will have already shifted.
On the other hand, Bloomberg earlier this week cited leaked phone records reporting that US Presidential Envoy Witkov told Russian President Putin's chief foreign policy advisor Ushakov last month that Trump had given him considerable space and autonomy to seek a peace agreement.
The 28-point peace plan for Russia-Ukraine proposed by the United States last week, clearly biased towards Russia, caused an uproar in Europe. Subsequently, US, Ukrainian, and European officials met in Geneva this week to revise the plan, resulting in a revised 19-point plan more acceptable to Ukraine.
Analysts point out that this latest development in the Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations has undoubtedly worried European allies, indicating a divergence of interests between the Trump administration and its European allies.
Fabrece Pothier, who previously worked in policy planning at NATO, said, "This is another painful example of the US ceasing its involvement in European affairs. While it may not involve an actual withdrawal of troops, it represents a departure in mindset and will."
