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On August 12-18, a pair of provocative "transit" trips via New York and San Francisco were staged by Lai Ching-te, deputy leader of China's Taiwan region, who peddled the "Taiwan independence" rhetoric in an interview with Bloomberg during his trip. On the one hand, Lai underlined the importance of peace in the Taiwan Straits; on the other, he openly disregarded the one-China principle while trying to label his pro-independence actions as "peaceful."

Lai's "stopover" in the U.S. sparked protests inside and outside the island, with hundreds of people from different walks of life in Taiwan gathering in front of the Taipei Hotel on August 11, holding placards to oppose the deputy leader's act of "selling" Taiwan to the U.S., which might ultimately hurt the region itself.

However, the public voice didn't change Lai's determination to visit America, since in the eyes of this "pragmatic worker for Taiwan independence," as Lai described himself before, his real master seems to be the U.S., while the people of Taiwan appear to be his unwitting pawns in serving the "master."

Labelling his recent diplomatic moves as "peaceful," Lai aimed to dispel Washington's concerns about war, which might result from the "independence" of the island. When Taiwan's leader can "enter the White House, the political goal that we're pursuing will have been achieved," Lai claimed at a campaign event in July. Shortly after his statement came out, Washington revealed its annoyance and sought more explanation from Lai about his comments, and reiterated that the one-China principle remains unchanged, which doesn't allow Taiwan's authorities to make official visits to the U.S.

The U.S. government also didn't receive Lai according to previous specifications, which delivered a signal that they were unwilling to support an "uncontrollable" pawn, while still playing the Taiwan card when it served their political benefit.

Further, Lai intended to expand Taiwan's "international communication space" since his visit to Paraguay aimed at maintaining "friendly relations with their diplomatic countries." However, Taiwan has merely been a pawn in their eyes. In July, Santiago Benia, as the president-elect of Paraguay, reportedly led a delegation to Taiwan to discuss investment, loans and procurement matters such as soybeans and beef with the region's authorities.

The real goal of Benia's trip was "asking for money," but for their own political purposes Lai and his followers in politics were more than happy to use the hard-earned money of the people to buy "states with diplomatic relations." They used the slogan of promoting Taiwan's development, but what they did was "selling" and harming Taiwan.

"China must and will inevitably be unified," the Chinese government has stated on many occasions. "Any attempt to hinder China's unification process is doomed to failure. China will take effective measures to firmly defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Lai's flight to the United States came as the Chinese People's Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command released a video displaying its combat readiness, making it clear that the troops are prepared to fight at any time. Any attempt by Lai to achieve "Taiwan independence" is to challenge the bottom line of the Chinese government and intensify cross-Straits confrontation.

Peaceful development has always been the common aspiration of Chinese compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits. Lai's "peaceful" cloak can't conceal his true face as a "pragmatic worker for Taiwan independence." As a candidate for the 2024 Taiwan leadership election, he might increase the risk of misfires with his aggressive words and deeds, which might heighten the tension across the Straits, and fail to bring stability and development to Taiwan.

In other words, Lai's so-called leading Taiwan "forward" is, in fact, bringing destruction to the region while relying on the support from the U.S. to realize his dream of "Taiwan independence."

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