U.S. takes the front seat in smearing China over Ukraine. It's not helpful

The hopeless fault-finder Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

--America's sanctions stick and bellicose rhetoric are only worsening the situation, narrowing the window for a possible clawback from escalation, and steering Ukraine and Russia away from the negotiating table.

--To turn around the deteriorating situation and prevent further needless suffering, the US should use its leverage and work with other nations to bring Ukraine and Russia, among other stakeholders, back to the negotiating table, instead of incessantly throwing dirt on another country.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict, which erupted precisely a month ago, has been truly frustrating and traumatizing to witness. As tensions swiftly build up and the human toll continues climbing in the region of Eastern Europe, Washington has offered its solutions to the crisis: a joint "sanction" of Russia along with its allies and weapons supplies to Ukraine.

With neither of these approaches seeming to have worked so far, unfortunately, the US has decided instead to shift blame onto other parties, spreading blatant falsehoods and disinformation targeting China, while insinuating that China hasn't done enough to address the crisis.

And yet, such blame games won't do anything to help with the situation either.

American media outlets, almost in tandem with the Ukraine crisis, have kept circulating and spewing anti-China disinformation that is simply fake. Starting earlier this month, the New York Times, joined by other mainstream media outlets, falsely claimed that Chinese officials had "known" beforehand the occurrence of the conflict. Their evidence? An unsubstantiated "Western intelligence report." Their source? Several unnamed officials. Apparently, America's disinformation machine has never once run out of steam with the same fuel.

Less than two weeks later, American media outlets cooked up something richer and even more fantastical. This time, they cited a US intelligence official who suggested that China "has expressed some openness to providing Russia with requested military and financial assistance," as CNN reported. To even consider giving an official response to such a pure fabrication was not worth the time. Yet, Chinese officials have on multiple occasions shown their utmost patience in debunking the flagrant and sinister lies.

[Related Reading: U.S. can't cover up its responsibility for Ukraine crisis by spreading anti-China disinformation]

Then, this week, the New York Times published a preposterous analytical article headlined "China Takes a Back Seat in International Diplomacy Over Ukraine," in which it suggested that "China has repeatedly called for peace talks in Ukraine," while adding that "What it has not done is press Russia to negotiate…". It is somewhat of a relief to see that the Times used the word "negotiate" instead of "sanction." But their tone seems to suggest that China somehow has a greater ability to sway Russia or press the "stop" button on the conflict than either the US and most of its allies combined might have.

In the American media's warped narratives on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the US is whitewashed as a mediator, a peacekeeper, and a savior who protects the vulnerable from utter despair, while China is blackwashed as the nation that "stands aloof," "waits and sees", and hesitates to "act."

But in reality, America's sanctions stick and bellicose rhetoric are only worsening the situation, narrowing the window for a possible clawback from escalation, and steering Ukraine and Russia away from the negotiating table. And its unprovoked smear campaign against China over the Ukraine crisis will do nothing to help bring an end to the conflict, other than divert the public's attention and generate more anti-China hate.

Sanctions provide no path to solutions. Weapons are not the answer to peace. Disinformation is no means of persuasion. To turn around the deteriorating situation and prevent further needless suffering, the US should use its leverage and work with other nations to bring Ukraine and Russia, among other stakeholders, back to the negotiating table, instead of incessantly throwing dirt on another country.