Tsai and US real culprits of cross-Strait tensions

Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen's "transit" through the United States on her way to Guatemala and Belize in Central America recently and her meetings with top US officials on US soil have exposed Washington's two-faced diplomacy, and are detrimental to Sino-US relations and cross-Strait stability.

The US' deceitful diplomacy of claiming, on the one hand, that it acknowledges the "one-China policy" and, on the other hand, arranging for pro-separatist Tsai's "transit", and Tsai upping the ante against Beijing are the root cause of the current turmoil across the Taiwan Strait and high tensions in the Asia-Pacific region.

Given the threat posed to the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity by the US and Tsai administrations, Beijing had to demonstrate through the just-concluded military exercises that it will not allow any interference in its internal matters, and is determined to realize the reunification of Taiwan with the motherland. And by accusing Beijing of further raising the tensions across the Strait, the US appears like a thief crying "catch the thief".

First, Tsai's "transit" through the US is part of her efforts to seek "Taiwan independence" with the help of the US. Tsai claimed to be visiting two "allies" in Central America, but her activities in the US far exceeded those in the two countries, indicating that her so-called visits to Guatemala and Belize were a cover-up for her real purpose of seeking US help to promote "Taiwan independence".

Instead of staying at the airport or in a hotel like a regular passenger in transit, Tsai held numerous meetings with US government officials and Congress members, and established a bond with some anti-Beijing politicians.

By supporting Tsai and continuing to sell huge amounts of weapons to Taiwan, Washington, in cahoots with anti-Beijing politicians, has encouraged her to further provoke Beijing. The anti-Beijing politicians also said that the US and Taiwan are united by common values, asserting that the US will always support the separatist ruling Democratic Progressive Party on the island. These politicians also claimed the meeting between Tsai and US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy was nothing but a "normal" meeting. Incidentally, Tsai also met with House Democrat representative Hakeem Jeffries.

These are very clear and serious acts of provocation, and violate the one-China principle, which will severely damage cross-Strait peace.

Second, Tsai called her trip a "journey of democratic partnership", echoing the tone of the second so-called Global Summit for Democracy organized by US President Joe Biden which coincided with her visit.

In fact, Tsai's remarks in New York were identical to those made by Biden at the summit, where he claimed to unite like-minded countries to counter Beijing.

And McCarthy, in his meeting with Tsai, reiterated the "ideological struggle" of the US and Taiwan, asserting that the US will ensure that Taiwan enjoys the same values of peace, freedom, and democracy as the US does.

Worse, the Hudson Institute awarded Tsai the so-called Global Leadership Award, obviously to ensure her administration remains a "democratic pawn" which the US can use against Beijing.

Organizations on the island such as the "Prospect Foundation" and the "Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats" use the guise of spreading "democracy" and promoting "cooperative development" to engage in anti-Beijing activities in a bid to further hollow out the universally recognized one-China principle.

However, Beijing knows full well the DPP's and such organizations' ploy of attracting external support to smear the Chinese mainland, and it will take all the necessary countermeasures against separatist organizations and individuals in Taiwan.

Third, Tsai's "transit" through the US was intended to strengthen relations with Washington and raise tensions, even trigger conflict across the Strait. While Tsai was "transiting" through the US, Michael McCaul, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House, led eight bipartisan Congress members on a visit to Taiwan with the intention of further increasing tensions across the Strait.

Once again, facts have proven that the rising cross-Strait tensions can be squarely blamed on the Biden administration and anti-Beijing US politicians because, even in these hyper-sensitive times some of them are "using Taiwan to contain the mainland".

In response to these efforts to disrupt peace and stability across the Strait, the mainland will undoubtedly take strong countermeasures. The attempts of foreign forces to interfere in China's internal affair are doomed to failure, and Tsai and the DPP will have to pay the price for colluding with the US to split the country. No matter how desperately they try, they cannot change the trend of China's national reunification.

The author is a professor at the Institute of Taiwan Studies, Beijing Union University. The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

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