US will fail in its evil design even by using Taiwan as a tool

The United States seems intent on playing the dangerous "Taiwan card" again by allowing Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen to stop over in the US on her way to "visit" some Caribbean countries this month. The US has already made a series of moves, especially the passing of the Taiwan Assurance Act by the House of Representatives, which has raised tensions across the Taiwan Straits.

As part of its Indo-Pacific strategy, the US has been trying to woo Japan, Australia and India to form a "quadrilateral alliance"－known as Quad－aimed at containing China. But as the US president's "America first" agenda is in defiance of the norms followed by the international community, including US allies, and considering its huge economic exchanges with China, India is reluctant to side with the US in order to avoid offending any party and ending up as a victim of the conflict between the world's two largest economies.

And since Japan is also reluctant to blindly toe the US line, Washington is using the "Taiwan card" to bolster its Indo-Pacific strategy and strengthen its presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

By following their foreign masters' guideline, the island's politicians such as Tsai create enough space for the US to play the "Taiwan card". In fact, thanks to the covert support of some Taiwan politicians, the US has intensified its strategic activities－for instance, navigating its warships through the Straits five times in the past five months, a frequency too high even by US "standards"－in the Asia-Pacific region. Besides, the US has continued selling arms to the island.

By passing acts and resolutions indicating that the US' relations with the island's administration are strong not only in political but also military fields, Washington is trying Beijing's patience on the Taiwan question.

Worse, the US Congress has attempted to use Taiwan as a means to win brownie points in its conflict with the mainland by passing a number of acts related to the island including the Taiwan Assurance Act, Taiwan Travel Act and the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018.

But by becoming a pawn in the strategic game of the US, Taiwan is digging itself into a hole because the US is just using it as a tool and would discard it once it loses its worth. More important, the island's administration should realize that the US will never succeed in its evil design.

Even though the Tsai administration is well aware of the US' intentions, the "pro-independence" forces are determined to cater to Washington's demands. No wonder they do not recognize the 1992 Consensus that there is only one China. And by projecting herself as a lackey of the US, Tsai intends to enhance her "reputation" to win the island's leadership election in 2020.

Yet Tsai will not succeed in fulfilling her dirty agenda. Since Taiwan is an export-oriented economy, it's critical for it to maintain a stable external environment in order to promote trade and economic growth. It would suffer a hard blow if there is turbulence across the Straits. It's obvious that the Democratic Progressive Party led by Tsai is staking the livelihoods of Taiwan residents to achieve its narrow political interests. But it should be forewarned that by so doing, it will bring trouble for itself and the Tsai administration.

The author is an associate researcher at the Institute of Taiwan Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.