Taiwan regional leader Lai Ching-te. /Xinhua

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Lai Ching-te, leader of the Taiwan region, has again proved himself to be a "destroyer of cross-Strait peace" and a "creator of crisis in the Taiwan Straits."

On Thursday, the eve of the 20th anniversary of the implementation of China's Anti-Secession Law, Lai held a so-called "high-level national security meeting" to propagate the separatist fallacy of "mutual non-subordination" between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits. Labeling the Chinese mainland as a "foreign hostile force," Lai put forward 17 "major strategies" against so-called "five threats."

Blatantly preaching his separatist agenda, Lai is hijacking the wellbeing of the people of Taiwan for his own desire for power.

The Chinese mainland has both determination and capability for reunification. "Our determination to resolve the Taiwan question and achieve national reunification is as solid as a rock, and our capability is unshakable," Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said, responding to Lai's provocative remarks.

This means China will take all necessary measures, including military ones if necessary, to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Lai's separatist activities are therefore pushing the entire Taiwan region toward a real armed conflict. But the huge military gap between Taiwan and the mainland means the island will be defeated in case of a military conflict.

The people of Taiwan are apparently not happy about the specter of a military conflict.

Fears of war have, to some extent, contributed to the plunging birth rate in Taiwan. The island's population has been declining. According to the Taiwan internal affairs department, by the end of 2024 it was approximately 23.4 million, with the number of newborns falling to the lowest figure since records began to be kept. Last year marked the ninth consecutive annual decline since 2016, according to the department.

Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party, had previously indicated that young people in Taiwan would be more willing to have children if they were confident of peace prospects across the Taiwan Straits.

But once again, apparently, this is not what Lai cares about. Flaunting himself as a "pragmatic worker for Taiwan independence," he naively anticipates Washington will back him in case of a crisis.

Perhaps Lai should see what is happening around the world before defying the universally acknowledged one-China principle that says Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. Lai's secessionist remarks were made within a month of the bitter clash between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, resulting in the suspension of Washington's military assistance to Kyiv. 

And Lai must be clear that, Ukraine is a sovereign state who has a seat in the United Nations, while Taiwan representatives were expelled "from the place which they unlawfully occupy at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it" by UN Resolution 2758 in 1971.

Lai wants to sell Taiwan to the U.S. in exchange for Washington's support for his political career, but he is too optimistic – or naïve – about the reliability of his U.S. master.

The U.S. today can "betray" a sovereign state – an ally under its protection in Europe – in exchange for its own interests, how can Lai guarantee America would rush in to protect a Chinese secessionist province in the future?

For Washington, the Taiwan question is just a pawn on its political chessboard that can be discarded at any time.

"America has a diplomatic ladder of escalation that would compel Beijing's attention," John Bolton, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, wrote in the Wall Street Journal. It could start with "officially" receiving Taiwan "diplomats," upgrading the status of U.S. representation in the Taiwan region, inviting Taiwan leaders to make "official visits" to the United States, allowing senior U.S. officials to engage in "government business" in Taiwan, and ultimately restoring "full diplomatic relations" with Taiwan.

These could be the maneuvers to pressure the Chinese government for more concessions. However, the so-called U.S. "protection" for Taiwan is just an empty word to exploit the island as a tool for Washington's anti-China agenda. Washington’s behavior on the Ukraine issue has already proved that it would never prioritize others' interests over its own in the event of an armed conflict. Lai should face up to this fact before preaching his Taiwan separatist agenda.

Taiwan secessionists have no military capability to win over the mainland, or any solid support from their U.S. master. Lai's provocations on the one-China principle are simply pushing Taiwan toward the perilous brink of war.

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