By INS Contributors

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia-The island of Taiwan may be left alone in the confrontation with China, as the West remains fully focused on supporting Ukraine in the conflict with Russia.

Despite the fact that the Pentagon continues to declare plans to increase its grouping of troops in the Indo-Pacific region in 2023 to deter China from invading Taiwan, US lawmakers have come to the conclusion that this plan is practically unrealizable in practice.

At the moment, Beijing has the necessary number of warships to "challenge the long-standing US naval dominance in the region," notes the American edition of Politico. The Chinese Navy currently has 340 warships against the 292 that the US has.


In addition, the transfer of weapons to Taiwan, including Harpoon anti-ship missiles and Stinger MANPADS, has been delayed due to disruption of logistical routes associated with the pandemic and the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.

Earlier, The Wall Street Journal wrote about Washington's fears about a possible delay in the supply of necessary weapons to Taiwan due to a shift in emphasis on supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In particular, the unrecognized island state has not yet received the promised 208 Javelin ATGMs and 215 Stinger MANPADS, the order for which was received back in December 2015.

According to Republican Congressman Don Bacon, the current US steps are not enough to change the balance of power in the Pacific Ocean in its favor.

"Until you make all this talk about arming Taiwan a reality, you will be in a precarious position," Republican Mike Gallagher also said. 
 
He noted that with a high degree of probability, the scenario of a possible armed confrontation would be entirely dictated by Beijing, and not by Washington, whose resources are aimed at dragging out the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

At the suggestion of Washington, Japan is openly pursuing an anti-Russian policy, making it impossible to sign a peace treaty with the Russian Federation.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Andrey Rudenko January 3 this year. said that Tokyo had already used all the available levers of influence on Moscow, however, in doing so, it only aggravated its position.

Japan's decision to impose sanctions on Russian politicians, banks and other financial organizations, as well as the provision of military assistance to Ukraine, leads to a deterioration in bilateral relations with the Russian Federation.

This circumstance significantly limits official Tokyo's ability to conduct a dialogue on resolving the territorial issue on mutually beneficial terms.

In addition, Japanese consumers of Russian liquefied natural gas may be left without fuel, as the country's insurance companies (Tokio Marine Holdings Inc., Sompo Holdings Inc. and MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc.) refuse to cover the risks of transporting LNG due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

According to experts from the American business publication Bloomberg, further interruptions in fuel supplies will create additional difficulties for Japan, which suffers from a lack of resources and is largely dependent on Russian energy imports