Editor's note: Just days ago, Lai Ching-te, a politician with Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party made a "transit" trip to the U.S. en route to Paraguay. Why did Lai go to the U.S. at this particular time? And what can be inferred from the attitude of the U.S. side? Chair Professor at Soochow University Victor Gao speaks with Reality Check on this topic. The views expressed here are his own and not necessarily those of CGTN.

Victor Gao: First of all, in recent years, politicians in Taiwan, especially those pro-independence politicians in Taiwan, tried to bring the United States into the equation of relations across the Taiwan Straits. They falsely believe that if the United States support them, they could turn Taiwan into a separate independent country with full sovereignty. That's actually a fantasy that they are indulging in, because China will never allow any country, including the United States, to succeed in pushing Taiwan into a separate independent sovereign country.

Now, for Lai Ching-te, of course he thought he would gain a lot of credibility if he could visit the United States. He even mentioned that he might be valid to visit the White House, for example, and he'll meet with U.S. politicians, leaders of all kinds while in the United States in transit.

Strictly speaking, while in transit, you're not supposed to conduct any political activities in the United States. So Lai Ching-te's goal was very clear. His motivation was very clear. They want to bring the United States into the equation to support independence or separatism of Taiwan. Now, on the other hand, why does the United States allow the edge of the envelope to be pushed again and again? Why do they allow politicians like Lai Ching-te to meet with local politicians in the United States, or even flaunt the idea of a visit to the White House, for example?

I think this is a firm indication that the United States was very, very desperate to hollow out the one-China principle. On the one hand, they say "yes, we still acknowledge the one-China policy, [and] there's no change." On the other hand, they keep working on hollowing out the real contents. They want to have a situation where the separatists in Taiwan can declare "we are already an independent country, we are not part of China, we do not belong to the same national destiny, and we do not share the same culture." That's false. Nobody will really take them seriously.

And I would say that one-China is written into the Charter of the United Nations. And the fact that Taiwan needed to be returned to China in 1945 was dictated by the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation. This is history. Nobody should be allowed to turn against history. Therefore, for those countries who really become clowns in supporting and advocating Taiwan as an independent country, [they] are first of all, indulging in fantasy. Secondly, they will never be allowed to be successful.

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