Pets will ultimately become prey

The collapse of the government in Afghanistan following the rapid withdrawal of United States forces has sparked concern on the island of Taiwan thousands of miles away, where the ruling Tsai Ing-wen administration has been clinging ever more tightly to the coattails of the US' Indo-Pacific policy with the intention of portraying itself as a de facto national government.

What does the US have to say to those in Afghanistan who feel abandoned by it, and thus to the administration in Taiwan which must be concerned that it too will be abandoned by Washington at some point? According to US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, the US believes that its commitment to its allies and partners is "sacred and unchangeable".

Well, until it no longer is, of course. Until the US realizes that the costs outweigh any imagined benefits.

The Tsai Ing-wen administration is betting everything on US support. One only needs to look at what is unfolding in Afghanistan and what happened in Vietnam to see that it is not a good bet.

When the US inevitably decides that enough is enough, those who were formerly of use to it will be unceremoniously abandoned.

What happened in Vietnam and Afghanistan should serve as a lesson to those willing to be Washington's puppets, that it will cut the strings without a second thought whenever it tires of its marionetting.

The local media in Taiwan has warned the DPP and its leader Tsai Ing-wen, that the US politicians will just as readily abandon them when they are no longer considered to be of use.

As a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said, the Tsai Ing-wen administration surrendering the stable and peaceful future of the island to the whims of the US is stupid and irresponsible.