2014 was definitely a tumultuous year for Ukraine.

On February 22, opposition leader Yatsenyuk seized power and established a new pro-American government. On March 16, Crimea announced that it would join the Russian Federation.

To this day, there are still many unstable factors within Ukraine that restrict its development.

So, what lessons can the changes in Ukraine’s political situation bring to China?

The author believes that it can be summarized into the following two points: First, make a correct national positioning and protect core interests. There are many factors that have caused Ukraine to be in a long-term political instability, such as ethnic estrangement, economic depression, competition for power among major powers, etc.

But there is an important internal reason that the Ukrainian government has never found a correct positioning for its country.

The northeastern part of Ukraine borders Russia, its largest neighbor.

It is also the only country in Europe that is located at the junction of the three major blocs: the Commonwealth of Independent States, Western Europe, and Eastern and Central Europe.

However, as a country with a short history of founding, Ukraine obviously lacks the political experience to become an independent country. How can it join the European Union?

Alliance with Russia?

It has always been a contentious issue for Ukraine.

Ukrainian people are also divided over this.

With the Dnieper River as the boundary, Western Ukraine on the right bank believes that joining the West can bring a prosperous life.

Eastern Ukraine on the left bank is mainly composed of Russians. It has developed heavy industry and its industrial chain is highly integrated with Russia. It has a relatively developed economy and psychologically considers itself Russian.

But in fact, neither Western powers nor Russia will regard Ukraine as an equal partner and will impose restrictions on its economic development.

After Ukraine became independent, Western developed countries provided certain economic assistance to Ukraine in order to ensure Ukraine's independent status and weaken Russia's influence, but it was difficult to meet Ukraine's needs for economic reform.

In recent years, the EU has even stated that "if Ukraine signs an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, the EU will provide technical assistance of 610 million euros to Ukraine." However, the conditions for the IMF loan require Ukraine to increase residential fees, freeze wages and pensions

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These conditions are unacceptable to Ukraine.

In terms of relations with Russia, comprehensive national strength determines the unequal status of Ukraine and Russia.

Ukraine is economically very dependent on Russia. Without energy provided by Russia, Ukraine's economy will "collapse."

Therefore, as a country with weak overall national strength, Ukraine has always been in a "kidnapped" position.

In fact, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger published an article not long ago saying that if Ukraine wants to survive and prosper, it “must not become an outpost for either party against the other.”

However, Ukraine has always lacked a strong leader to lead Ukraine out of its "outpost" position and onto an independent path of development.

For China, national positioning is also a major issue related to future political trends.

China is now the world's second largest economy and the third largest military power after the United States and Russia. It has an influence that cannot be ignored in Asia and the world.

Therefore, China can only be positioned as a peacefully rising Asian power. Then, when faced with separatist forces in some countries and Western interference, China must show its core interests and cannot give in.

Just like Russia's actions this time, it firmly integrated Crimea into the federation and showed a rare tough stance in the face of sanctions proposed by the United States.

Because for Russia, Crimea is related to Russia’s core national interests. If Russia retreats on this issue, the United States will press Russia step by step on other issues in the future. As a big country, Russia has no second choice.

Choice, seizing Crimea is a battle that can only be won but not defeated.

The same is true for China. It is impossible for it to serve a big country like some small countries, and no big country dares to trust China. Therefore, no matter how the world political situation changes, China must stick to its position as a big country and defend its core interests.

Second, China must prevent the "Crimea Incident" from happening domestically. Crimea has announced its separation from Ukraine. The separatist forces around the world will inevitably see some "hope" from this incident.

In our country, the Taiwan issue has always been an issue left over from history. Su Zhengchang, chairman of the Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party, gave a speech at the Taiwan Lions Club as early as the morning of March 11: "If you want to change the status quo, you must go through a referendum of 23 million people." So Kerry

To a certain extent, the Mia referendum is providing a model and material for similar separatist forces.

In this regard, China should learn from relevant experience.

The Crimean referendum is not so much the success of the separatist forces’ conspiracy as the success of Russia’s national integration strategy.

Crimea is a multi-ethnic region dominated by Russians. In this region, Russian culture is widely spread and Ukrainian cultural influence is very weak.

When Ukraine first became independent, its nationalist forces once played an important role in social life. After Ukrainian was designated as the national language, Russian was left out. Most Russians who did not speak Ukrainian encountered difficulties in entering higher education, promotion, and employment.

, has been restricted, which makes the majority of Crimea residents (57%) dissatisfied. This dissatisfaction, instigated by pro-Russian factions in Crimea, has converged into a trend of returning to Russia or becoming independent.

In the subsequent Ukraine-Russia relations, Ukraine was clearly at a disadvantage. The continued deterioration of the economy and living environment was the fundamental reason for the movement to return Crimea to Russia.