Tsai should not cross the redline: China Daily editorial

In her so-called Double Tenth speech on the weekend, Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen claimed that as long as Beijing had the intention to resolve conflicts and improve cross-Straits relations, her administration was willing to jointly promote "meaningful dialogue".

This might seem reasonable. But it was disingenuous. Tsai is well aware of the precondition for any "dialogue" with Beijing — she must uphold the 1992 Consensus that there is only one China.

By saying that the top priority for both sides of the Straits is to discuss ways of peaceful coexistence "under the principle of equal dignity", Tsai was again trying to fool the international community by giving the impression that Taiwan is an independent entity.

Her aim is to gain sympathy and support, particularly from the United States, to bolster the island's appearance of de facto independence, and portray her administration and the island as victims of Beijing's bullying.

The maneuvers of her administration in pursuit of its secessionist agenda — including exploiting the pandemic at the risk of the lives and health of the island's residents and tagging onto the US administration's campaign to contain China — have pushed cross-Straits relations to the brink.

Her administration has even supported those trying to instigate a "color revolution" in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and offered shelter to some who have fled the city for fear of falling foul of the SAR's recently enacted national security law.

In a recent crackdown called "Xunlei-2020", which literally means "sudden peal of thunder", some suspects from Taiwan were arrested by the Chinese mainland security authorities on suspicion of engaging in spying activities or collusion with separatist forces in Hong Kong.

That Tsai has adopted a softer tone to solicit the support of the West is because of the recent live-fire exercises the People's Liberation Army conducted near the island, leaving Tsai and her administration in no doubt that any move to secede from the motherland will be quelled.

It is a historical and legal fact that there is only one China, and both sides of the Taiwan Straits belong to it. Responding to Tsai's remarks, Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said that any attempts to seek "Taiwan independence" will only lead to a dead end, and those who are banking on foreign forces to achieve that goal "will become the victims of their own evil deeds".

Tsai and her administration should refrain from making any provocative remarks or carrying out any acts in pursuit of "Taiwan independence" lest they want to feel the wrath of the nation.