In his "inaugural speech" on May 20, Lai Ching-te, the new leader of China's Taiwan region characterized Taiwan as a "highlight among the world's democracies", a "key player in the global democracy supply chain", and proclaimed that "Taiwan is world's Taiwan". Professor Xin Qiang, deputy director of the Center for American Studies and director of the Center for Taiwan Studies at Fudan University, argues that this rhetoric has become a key strategy for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to counter the Chinese mainland. According to Xin, Lai is attempting to recast the cross-Strait unification versus independence issue as a value-based conflict between "democracy and authoritarianism", thereby obscuring the core essence of the Taiwan question.
"From the perspective of international law, issues between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are essentially China's domestic affairs , concerning how China achieves reunification, counters division, and resists external interference," said Xin. He emphasized that this is a matter for the Chinese people themselves and has nothing to do with the political systems on either side of the Strait, nor with the positions of any particular party in Taiwan, including the DPP authorities. Lai's claim to "continue building a community of democracies with democratic countries" is a strategy aimed at garnering support from the Western countries led by the US, while simultaneously misleading and deceiving the Taiwan public.
According to Xin, after years of indoctrination by the DPP, along with instigation and support from the US-led West, the notion that "reunification equals invasion" has gained traction on the island. Lai is well aware of the widening power gap across the Strait and understands that "Taiwan independence" is untenable under international law. Consequently, he resorts to the rhetoric of "democracy versus authoritarianism" to deceive the Taiwan public, and even intentionally creates a sense of "shared enmity", aiming to draw in external forces. Fundamentally, this strategy is geared towards "seeking independence with external support".
Xin stated that, as the report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) pointed out, resolving the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese, a matter that must be resolved by the Chinese. We will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and the utmost effort, but we will never promise to renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all measures necessary. This is directed solely at interference by outside forces and the few separatists seeking "Taiwan independence" and their separatist activities; it is by no means targeted at our Taiwan compatriots. He warned that, "seeking independence with external support" may push Taiwan into a "perilous situation of war and danger", with highly perilous consequences, and the primary victims would undoubtedly be the Taiwan people.
Xin also cautioned that "seeking independence with external support" is a mere fantasy of the DPP authorities. Major global players like the US have made it clear that they do not support "Taiwan independence" and will by no means provoke military conflict with the Chinese mainland to favor Taiwan's separatist aspirations. Essentially, external actors only intend to manipulate Taiwan with empty promises, thus extracting concessions that serve their own interests while jeopardizing Taiwan's well-being.
Editor's note: Originally published on chinanews.com, 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.
