Separatist intent of Lai's 'transit stays' exposes his nature as real troublemaker: China Daily editorial

Anti-secession protests sent Lai Ching-te, leader of the Democratic Progressive Party, on his way as he departed Taipei. Similar protests welcomed him during his stopover in New York on Saturday on his way to Paraguay and protesters are expected to greet him in San Francisco on Tuesday en route back.

Although how to prevent Paraguay, the largest country among the 13 countries that still keep official relations with the island, from aligning itself with the majority of the international community that recognizes Beijing as the sole representative of one China is part of his agenda, assuring Washington of his ability to follow in the footsteps of Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen tops Lai's agenda.

Lai, who is currently leading in the polls for the upcoming leadership election on the island, understands the pitfalls that led to Tsai's loss of leadership within the DPP. It is Tsai's reckless actions that have directly provoked Beijing to accelerate military preparations to potentially reunify the island by force in the event that proves necessary.

Consequently, although seeking support and trust from Washington, Lai is keeping an unusually low profile during his trip.

He told his supporters last month that "When we can go to the White House, we'll have reached the political goal that we're pursuing".

Yet apparently, he will only meet some of his supporters among the local Chinese American population in the two cities, with no official contact with the US government, according to the itinerary he released, at least. Whether that will indeed be the case, remains to be seen.

Lai's performances in the island over these years as a radical separatist have already made it unmistakably clear that ultimately he can only be an exaggerated version of Tsai. As the Foreign Ministry pointed out in a statement it issued on Sunday, clinging stubbornly to "Taiwan independence", he is a troublemaker through and through.

The more he tries to impress the US, the more trouble he will make.

Beijing is closely following the developments of the situation and its warning that resolute and strong measures will be taken to safeguard the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity should never be taken lightly.

Lai's "transit stops" once again show that the fundamental cause of the continued tensions in the Taiwan Strait is the Taiwan separatists' attempts to solicit greater US support for "Taiwan independence" and the China hawks in the US are intent on exploiting their agenda to smear Beijing.