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Not surprisingly, Lai Ching-te, leader of China's Taiwan region, resorted to his usual habit of trumpeting the so-called success of his authority and of his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in his second "National Day" speech Friday.

But the reality says something else. In other words, Lai lied. Once again.

In politics, Lai has persistently denied the reality that the DPP failed to secure majority in Taiwan's leadership election and majority in the regional legislative body. He launched a recall vote targeting opposition legislators, a relentless campaign purging opposition and intending to solidify his "two states" theory, which claims that the two sides of the Taiwan Straits do not belong to each other. 

Yet the recall vote failed and the DPP still remains a minority party in the island's legislature. The failure is seen as a sharp rebuke to the DPP led by Lai, with the Taiwan public signaling strong dissatisfaction with their secessionist policies.

The recent performance of Taiwan’s economy hardly inspires any optimism or confidence in the DPP. Figures from the Taiwan-based Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research show that the island has witnessed four straight months of contraction in the manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index in September.

Dismal economic prospects mean disruptions in employment and people's daily lives. The latest data released by the island's labor authority in mid-September revealed 333 companies had furloughed employees, an increase of 88 companies and 2,000 plus individuals from the end of August.

The dissatisfaction in Taiwan over the failure of Lai and the DPP is palpable. During Lai's recall vote campaign, a poll conducted by Taiwan's United Daily News showed that the majority of the public were against the campaign. A white paper released in September by the island's top industrial association called on the DPP authorities to loosen restrictions on cross-Straits economic exchanges and the call was vigorously welcomed by the people of Taiwan.

The harm Lai Ching-te and the DPP are inflicting on Taiwan goes beyond their failure. They pose a real danger to the island.

In his speech, Lai bragged about boosting Taiwan's economic competitiveness by attracting more investments and enlarging external trade. Yet in reality, the DPP authorities have bowed down to the U.S. tariff policy and promised to buy more U.S. products and increase investments in America.

Lai and his party have also assisted in America's efforts to hollow out the island's chip industry by using the island's semiconductor manufacturing giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) as a tool to fulfill their political purposes. It was announced earlier this year that TSMC would invest 100 billion U.S. dollars to build five new state-of-the-art fabrication facilities in the U.S. Lai and the DPP are riding roughshod over the economic wellbeing of the Taiwan people and selling out Taiwan's economic interests.

Equally alarming is Lai's announcement in the speech that the island's defense budget would be increased and a so-called multilayered air defense system established. Of course he also declared that the DPP authorities will work with the defense industry of "advanced countries." Or in other words, the DPP will sell out the island's defense to the U.S. because it needs U.S. conservative politics to back up its secessionist campaign. Under the disguise of protecting Taiwan, Lai and the DPP are trying to reap political gains.

The world needs to be reminded once again that ramping up defense on the Taiwan Island won't bring peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits. It goes against the desire and interests of the people in Taiwan and will only destabilize the Straits and indeed, the Asia-Pacific region. It is actually tantamount to the DPP kidnapping the Taiwan people to advance their own political agenda.

More than one year after becoming Taiwan's leader, Lai Ching-te and the DPP are still refusing to accept the reality. More than that, they are advancing further down the road of bringing more peril to Taiwan.

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