Tsai cannot change Taiwan's status, no matter what tricks she plays: China Daily editorial

In her latest attempt to peddle her "two states" delusion, Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen referred to the Chinese mainland as the "neighboring country" in a recent speech. Such separatist rhetoric lays bare Tsai's provocative tactics in seeking to create the illusion of "Taiwan independence".

Her agitation was naturally met with strong condemnation from the Chinese mainland.

Warning that such attempts will further undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits and bring suffering to Taiwan compatriots, Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, stressed that the nature of cross-Straits relations is not state-to-state relations, and no individual or force can change that fact.

But Tsai is seeking to distort facts with such remarks so as to confuse the public and mislead the international community. Such duplicity exposes the artifice of Tsai and the Democratic Progressive Party.

The DPP authorities bear the sole responsibility for destabilizing cross-Straits relations, heightening cross-Straits tensions and putting Taiwan people in a precarious situation.

From 2008 to 2016, under Tsai's predecessor, Ma Ying-jeou, relations between the mainland and Taiwan were much better than today as the two sides adhered to the 1992 Consensus, which upholds the one-China principle, thus creating peaceful development across the Straits.

At that time, compatriots on both sides shared a peaceful and stable environment, and fueled by prosperous economic cooperation, cross-Straits exchanges were also vibrant. This rosy picture was reflected in the Chinese mainland's gifts to Taiwan in 2008 — the two giant pandas are called Tuantuan and Yuanyuan, which, by putting them together, means reunion.

The giant panda "couple" just celebrated their 17th birthday at the zoo in Taipei, prompting people on both sides of the Straits to heave a deep sigh of frustration at the worsening relations.

The undesirable picture of cross-Straits relations is solely caused by the DPP authorities, which came to power in 2016 and refuse to recognize the Consensus reached by the two sides in 1992.

They have been obstructing cross-Straits exchanges and cooperation and colluding with foreign forces to seek "Taiwan independence", which has fueled the fraught cross-Straits relations and seriously damaged the vital interests of compatriots on both sides.

The DPP authorities should heed the calls of people on both sides of the Straits for peace and reunification and stop their vain attempts to split the island from the motherland.

There is only one China in the world and the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. Whatever farces the DPP authorities play, they cannot change this. Taiwan is an inseparable part of China.