Taiwan 'nationhood' talk only leads it to abyss: China Daily editorial

Responding to the recent clamor in Taiwan for a new "constitution", Beijing warned on Wednesday that pursuing "jurisprudential independence" with a new "constitution" will only push Taiwan down a "dangerous abyss".

The mainland will "absolutely not sit on our hands looking", said a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office.

There is every sign that, instead of learning the real lesson from their Nov 24 defeat in the island's local elections, hardcore independence seekers in the Democratic Progressive Party are trying to blaze a more radical trail. But their adventure is destined to be fruitless and, as Beijing has admonished, hazardous. Suicidal, to be precise.

Inaugurating his "Taiwan New Constitution Foundation" on Jan 23, long-term "independence" advocate Koo Kwang-ming said a new "constitution" would give Taiwan a sense of "nationhood".

Koo, who is now 93, can hardly make a difference, good or bad, regarding the status of Taiwan. No matter how hard he tries.

Equally obviously, though, the ambitious Lai Ching-te thinks he can. The former head of the "executive yuan", who stepped down on Jan 11 as a result of the DPP's Nov 24 failure, endorsed Koo's aspiration for a new "constitution".

Present leader Tsai Ing-wen's obsession with the "status quo" of relations across the Taiwan Straits has limited Taiwan's participation in the international community, Lai said. To change that, the island needs a new "constitution".

With that, Taiwan will be able to solve the issue of being an "unrecognized nation". In his words, Taiwan would have stayed within the United Nations had then leader Chiang Kai-shek not refused to participate alongside Beijing. Completely ignoring the historical truth that the UN members recognized Beijing as the sole, official representative of China.

Accordingly, he attributed the DPP's latest defeat to Tsai's disloyalty to the party's fundamental goal of independence, and the party's failure to translate corresponding advocacy and opinions into "the next step".

While Lai labels himself as a "pragmatic worker" for "jurisprudential independence", many believe in so doing he is just wooing support from the "deep green" faction for his potential bid for local leadership in the 2020 elections. Once he fills Tsai's shoes, observers say, he too, like all DPP predecessors, will hover around the "status quo".

All such, uncertainties notwithstanding, one thing is for sure. Beijing will not tolerate any move toward "jurisprudential independence". The mainland's Anti-Secession Law has no ambiguity about that.

Its Article 5 stipulates, "upholding the principle of one China is the basis of peaceful reunification of the country". The new "constitution" Koo and Lai advocate would inevitably eliminate that basis. What follows then, would indeed be an abyss of devastating potential.