Spying will take island?authorities nowhere

Cross-Straits relations have not been good since the incumbent administration  assumed power, making compatriots on both sides of the Straits worried. This is the reality of the situation, and Taiwan should know any more attempts to foment trouble will only worsen the situation and raise tensions across the Straits.

More than anything else, the Taiwan authorities should not forget the fact that the island will never be allowed to secede from the motherland. So if the island leaders cannot do something to improve the current situation, they should desist from wangling people into situations that would force the Chinese mainland to take action.

More than 100 spying cases involving Taiwan residents have been cracked, says a Ministry of State Security release. Some Taiwan spies even laid honey traps for mainland students studying or visiting the island to extract information out of them.

The exchange of students between universities across the Straits not only promotes the academic exchanges between the two sites, but also helps develop a bond between the students and youths. But the spying scandal has cast a shadow over such exchange programs.

More important, the huge numbers of spying cases and Taiwan spies involved suggest the Taiwan authorities harbor the intention of seeking Taiwan “independence”.

However, they have underestimated the mainland’s resolve to maintain national integrity, and failed to realize that the more they try to disrupt cross-Straits ties, the more determined the mainland will be to seek national reunification through whatever means possible.

The island authorities might want to believe they can use the support of the United States as a counterbalance to the mainland’s resolve. But the US State Department’s latest decision to reject the proposal of sending US marines to Taiwan flies in the face of the island authorities. Washington will only use Taiwan as pawn against Beijing to play its geopolitical games without actually helping the island.

So the island authorities would do good to realize that maintaining amicable cross-Straits relations is in the best interest of Taiwan economy and its residents, as well as mainland residents. And if they cannot improve the situation, they should not use spies against the mainland and make an already bad situation worse.

In short, the Taiwan leaders should stop employing spies to lay their hands on the classified information from the mainland and trying Beijing’s patience.