Editor's note: Sun Wenzhu, a special commentator for CGTN, is an associate research fellow of the Department for American Studies of the China Institute of International Studies. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Recently, the U.S. government, despite its own policy of "strategic ambiguity" on the Taiwan question, pressured two of its major allies in Asia, Japan and Australia, to clarify their stance – specifically, what role they would play in the event of a China-U.S. conflict over Taiwan.

According to media reports, Tokyo and Canberra, both caught by surprise, refused to commit, dismissing the question as a "hypothetical scenario."

This absurd farce once again reveals Washington's hegemonic hypocrisy, arrogance and self-centeredness over international security.

The Taiwan question is at the core of China's core interests, and the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-U.S. relations. The United States is well aware of the historical background and sensitiveness of the Taiwan question, as well as its commitment to the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiqués, which are the cornerstone of the U.S.-China diplomatic relations established in 1979.

Despite this, it, has repeatedly been indulging and supporting separatist activities trying to promote "Taiwan independence" with military aid, arms sale, official exchanges, and reviving the fallacy of "Taiwan's uncertain international status" in international forums.

These double-dealing activities, fudging and hollowing out the one-China principle, belie the real intention of the United States, which is to exploit the Taiwan question to maintain its hegemony. In Washington's calculations, Taiwan is a leverage to contain the development of China, whom it regards as its "major rival." The United States cares only about maximizing its own interests in this so-called "great power competition," instead of honoring its obligations confirmed in interstate treaties, or ensuring peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits.

Meddling in the Taiwan question is also against the interests of Americans. It is increasingly obvious that the United States' scheme of containing China by interfering in China's internal and sovereignty-related affairs is a strategical overreach . As China's overall development increases, the U.S. coercion and deterrence based on its military supremacy become riskier, while their effectiveness decreases. Both the strategic assessments of Pentagon and the results of U.S. public polls indicate that the U.S.is increasingly reluctant to intervene militarily if there is a "possible conflict" in the Taiwan Straits.

Washington's attempt to "outsource" the intervention to its regional allies exposes its indifference to regional security, including the security of its own "allies and partners." While the tension between its strategic goal and resources grows and anxiety mounts, the United States has started to shrink its own military deployment in the region to lower the risk of a direct confrontation with China. Yet instead of quitting interfering in the Taiwan question and truly honoring its commitment to the one-China principle, Washington is trying to make its allies shoulder the burden of maintaining its hegemony.

On one hand, it keeps hyping "China's military assertiveness" and "immediate cross-Straits contingency;" on the other hand, in the name of "empowering allies and partners" and "enhancing interoperability," it is pushing others to increase their military expenditure to buy more U.S. weapons and attend more U.S.-led joint exercises, which are ostensibly intended to "deter" but often become provocations instead.

For Japan and Australia, the risk of becoming entangled in a hypothetical "Taiwan contingency" is too high to take. Offering a military blank cheque to the United States is a risk to their own security and diplomatic autonomy, and will also breach their bilateral relations with China, their largest trade partner. For the countries in the region, maintaining their strategic autonomy and avoiding being dragged into great-power confrontations remains the rational choice.

Taiwan is part of China. China's reunification is unstoppable and will brook no foreign interference. Nor should it be used as a bargaining chip. For the peaceful development and shared prosperity of the Asia-Pacific, the United States should stop all forms of support for "Taiwan independence" activities, and quit instigating geopolitical games and bloc confrontation in the region.

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