Editor's note: CGTN's First Voice provides instant commentary on breaking stories. The column clarifies emerging issues and better defines the news agenda, offering a Chinese perspective on the latest global events.

Much is in the news headlines of major international media these days regarding how the Taiwan question is going to be discussed during US President Donald Trump's state visit to China.

The attention is hardly surprising. The Taiwan question has long been a tectonic flashpoint in the China-US relationship, one of the world's most consequential bilateral relations. As China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently emphasized, the Taiwan question bears on China's core interests and is the biggest risk in China-US relations. How it is handled matters not only to the two countries, but also to regional and global stability.

Yet at precisely such a delicate moment, the Taiwan region’s leader Lai Ching-te and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have doubled down on separatist provocations, attempting to manufacture momentum for the "Taiwan independence" agenda.

From peddling the fallacy that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait "are not subordinate to each other" to rolling out the widely-lambasted "17 strategies" intended to incite anti-China sentiment and obstruct cross-Strait exchanges, the DPP authorities have repeatedly trampled on the red line of the one-China principle.

Lai's latest political stunts, his clandestine visit to Eswatini in Africa and the so-called special defense budget, are more futile political maneuvers to inflate the separatist bubble by seeking external backing and military expansion.

But the louder the separatist rhetoric grows, the more it reveals the DPP authorities' mounting strategic anxiety. The reckless pursuit of "independence" is nothing but a self-defeating gamble that risks dragging the island into greater instability and danger.

To begin with, the "Taiwan independence" agenda runs against both historical reality and international consensus. The one-China principle, the premise and foundation of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 – which recognizes the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal representative of the whole of China - is supported by people across the Strait and the overwhelming majority of countries.

The fact that both sides of the Strait belong to one China has never changed and cannot be altered by the political manipulation of separatist forces. Peace, stability and development, and not confrontation and division, remain the mainstream aspirations of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Any miscalculation over the Taiwan question would sharply increase regional and global risks, a fallout the world seeks to avoid.

On the economic front, attempts to "decouple" from the mainland run against market realities and the interests of ordinary Taiwan residents. Backed by a mainland economy that has maintained an average annual growth rate of 5.4 % over the past five years and a market of more than 1.4 billion people, cross-Strait cooperation continues to offer vital opportunities for Taiwan's economic growth.

Despite the "decoupling card" repeatedly played by the DPP authorities, in 2025, cross-Strait trade reached $314.33 billion, with the mainland's exports to Taiwan rising 11.2% and imports from Taiwan up by 6%. From January to November the same year, transport between the two sides  recorded nearly 11,000 voyages, up 38.69% year on year, while passenger traffic rose 45.77% to 1.75 million trips.

These figures point to a simple reality: For most Taiwan residents, economic growth, stable livelihoods and closer exchanges matter most. Any attempt to artificially sever economic ties for political purposes will ultimately hurt Taiwan's own development prospects.

Adding another layer to the self-defeating nature of the separatist stance, backlash on the island surrounding DPP's recent defense budget proposal has once again exposed deep divisions within the island over the DPP's militarization agenda. Following the approval of the special defense budget, growing voices within the island are criticizing the DPP authorities for pursuing militarization in the name of "protecting Taiwan" while ignoring the urgent need to reduce tensions and preserve peace.

All this makes one point abundantly clear: "Taiwan independence" is a dead-end. No matter how hard Lai Ching-te and the DPP authorities attempt to seek external backing or manufacture political spectacles, their efforts are nothing but futile attempts to resist the broader trend of history.

Only by advancing cross-Strait relations toward peaceful reunification can there be lasting peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, in line with the fundamental interests of people on both sides and the wider international community.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com. Follow @thouse_opinions on X to discover the latest commentaries in the CGTN Opinion Section.)