By Zhong Yiping
On May 20, in his speech, Lai Ching-te designated "maintaining peace and stability and stopping external forces from changing the status quo across the Taiwan Strait" as his so-called "national strategic goal," in a bid to redefine "Taiwan independence" and gloss over his separatist pursuit.
Why has Lai Ching-te, once blatantly clamoring for "Taiwan independence," resorted to word games to cover up and whitewash his separatist agenda? Why the sudden loss of nerve? The recent Beijing summit between the Chinese and US presidents has once again laid bare the irresistible historical trend and shattered the "Taiwan independence" pipe dream. President Xi Jinping explicitly pointed out: "The Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations. If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability. Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy." He emphasized that "the US side must exercise extra caution in handling the Taiwan question." Following his visit to China, President Donald Trump stated in a media interview that he did not want to see anyone move toward "independence," nor did he want anyone to claim that "let's go independent because the United States is backing us." The US had no desire for war, he added. This unambiguous statement has undoubtedly dashed the hopes of the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces.
The Lai Ching-te authorities now find themselves in an awkward dilemma and have resorted to verbal trickery. Lai peddles the fallacy of safeguarding the status quo of the so-called "Republic of China" and asserts there exists no question of "Taiwan independence", trying to cloak its separatist moves for "Taiwan independence" as efforts to "upholding the status quo" and shift the blame for disrupting peace across the Taiwan Strait onto the mainland. While keeping pushing for "Taiwan independence" separatism and stirring up "anti-China" sentiments, the Lai Ching-te authorities are hypocritically pledging to advance cross-Strait dialogue and exchanges, attempting to fool Taiwan residents and mislead the international community. Such old tricks have been seen through by more people in Taiwan. Their deceptive ploys and provocative acts will surely face resolute opposition from compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and other people from the international community, and are doomed to fail.
For a long time, the Lai Ching-te authorities have attempted to instill in Taiwan residents the fallacy that the mainland will never resort to force and dare not do so, claiming that Taiwan has the US at its back and that Washington will offer protection once cross-Strait conflicts erupt. Now the US president has personally ruled out such possibilities, completely bursting such fantasies and laying bare their false claims, which is a heavy blow to them. More importantly, such a stance is an inevitable choice by the US after taking into account the overall China-US relations and America's own national interests. The historical and legal truth that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China brooks no doubt, and China is unwavering in its resolve to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Any party bent on militarily meddling in the Taiwan Strait will gain no benefits but bring disaster upon itself, a truth fully acknowledged by the US. The false rhetoric peddled by the Lai Ching-te authorities under the banners of "resisting China and protecting Taiwan" and "joint defense of Taiwan" to fool and mislead the general public has thoroughly collapsed.
Since taking office two years ago, Lai Ching-te has clung to his delusion of courting foreign forces to push for separatist moves, squandering massive resources on currying favor with external powers and beefing up military hardware. He has offered the semiconductor industry as leverage, splurged on military procurement and drastically hiked defense budgets, sparing no expense in such reckless moves. By contrast, Taiwan's economic and social development keeps stagnating. Its five major shortages — water, power, land, labor, and skilled personnel — have grown increasingly acute. Traditional sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, and light industry as well as service industries keep shrinking, leaving small and medium-sized enterprises in dire straits. Nearly 70 percent of local employees receive salaries lower than the average income. Facts have fully demonstrated that "Taiwan independence" separatism holds no bright future for Taiwan. Instead, it can only bring a terrifying and tense social atmosphere, the shadow of war, and a decline in people's livelihood.
"Taiwan independence" is utterly incompatible with cross-Strait peace and spells a hopeless dead end. Should separatist forces cling to their misguided ways and act arbitrarily, they are bound to suffer severe consequences. In the grand picture of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, there is no room for "Taiwan independence". The over 1.4 billion Chinese people will never allow any harm to be done to the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity ever again. Against the backdrop of China's steady development and the accelerating changes unseen in a century across the world, China's national reunification is merely a matter of time.
Editor's note: Originally published on people.com.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.