Tsai playing risky game with US' brinkmanship: China Daily editorial

When Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen called the People's Liberation Army's recent naval drills near the island "military intimidation" on Monday, she was trying to hype up the "threat" the island faces.

But as a staunch secessionist, Tsai, who single-handedly closed the door on cross-Straits exchanges once she entered office in 2016 by not upholding the 1992 Consensus on one China, is well aware that the so-called threat is one of her own making.

In fact, what the international community has learned from the rising cross-Straits tensions is how opportunistically she has pinned her cause to the anti-Beijing crusade of Washington.

Colluding with each other in their political gambling, neither Taipei nor Washington has the interests of Taiwan residents at heart.

It is in consideration of the island's residents that Beijing has not risen to their bait and it continues to exercise restraint. Even though the Tsai administration is ready to sacrifice the island on the altar of Washington's sacrarium, Beijing has maintained its composure and seeks to avoid the worst-case scenario, knowing what the mainland needs is time and development, rather than war.

As such, no matter how often and how seriously the Tsai administration feels intimidated, the world should rest assured that Beijing is capable of properly managing its internal affairs, and that the peaceful reunification of the country remains its preferred choice.

Despite this, it is evident that if Washington and Taipei continue to play with fire by touching Beijing's red line, they will be closing the window of possibility for a peaceful reunification.

A member of the Tsai administration, commenting on Chinese air force planes crossing the line midway between the mainland and the island which he referred to as the median line, said it has been a symbol preventing military conflicts and maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits for many years.

But, as Beijing said on Monday, there has never been a "median line" in the Straits as the island is an inseparable part of Chinese territory. Despite the wishful thinking of Tsai and like-minded secessionists, the island will never be separated from the motherland.

China's reunification is a historical inevitability. It is a matter of when, not if.

The US administration's speculation on Tsai's provocations as part of its pressure campaign on Beijing only serves to show its desperation, as it risks becoming embroiled in a game it can't control.