Lai's shameless display of hubris at cost of well-being of island's residents: China Daily editorial

Lai Ching-te, leader of the Democratic Progressive Party authorities on China's Taiwan island, delivered the fourth installment of his so-called 10 lectures on unity on Tuesday.

In the speech he mainly talked about the island's "defense". But the "defense" he talked about was against the Chinese mainland.

The "defense" Lai referred to is not rooted in genuine security or stability. It is a direct and inflammatory rejection of the island's cultural and historical connections with the mainland. While fearmongering about a so-called "threat" from the mainland — without acknowledging his own provocation as the main destabilizing force — Lai sidestepped a crucial question: How does this "defense" truly serve the well-being of Taiwan's residents? He avoided it because he knows the answer: it does not. His push for full mobilization — from civilian "all-out defense" programs to militarized education for students — is not about protection; it's about perpetuating division.

Anyone who knows the history of the island or is familiar with international law should have no doubt about the fact that the island is an inseparable part of China, with the central government in Beijing being the country's sole legal representative. That is unequivocal. It is not that Lai does not have that knowledge, it is out of ulterior motives that he denies the truth of the matter.

He also has the knowledge that his so-called defense of the island means nothing should the mainland really decide to realize reunification by force.

That fact that he attacked the island's "opposition parties" for considerably cutting the island's "defense budget" but skipped the truth that the current budget is already the highest in the history of the island sends the message that he just wanted to fool Taiwan society into believing that he is the one "defending" the interests of the island.

Another motive for Lai talking about the island's "defense" is that he is desperately trying to mobilize his supporters to win back control of the "legislature" during recall votes scheduled for late July. By talking about how "opposition parties" blocked and cut his "defense budget", he is trying to make the case that the "opposition parties" are betraying the interests of the island.

Anyone with enough sense about the current situation across the Strait knows that Lai's talk about the island's "defense" is anything but sincere concern for the well-being of Taiwan residents and the future of the island.

His talk about the "defense" of Taiwan will achieve nothing but only drag the island to the brink of a conflict that it will definitely lose.

Peaceful reunification of the island with its motherland is where the well-being of 23 million Taiwan residents and the future of the island lie. This is an inescapable truth and evident to anyone with a modicum of common sense.

Lai's rhetoric about the island being an "independent country" is against the facts. While his rhetoric about the island's need to "defend itself" against the mainland turns the truth upside down, as it is him that is pushing the island toward conflict. Lai claims that his speaking tour of 10 lectures is intended to unite the island. How hypocritical he is!

His talking about priority treatment for soldiers, "defense reform" as well as "all out defense" just reveals his desire to militarize the entire island, and get all residents on the island involved in the island's purported "defense".

By talking about "defense" of the island, Lai is making the case that Taiwan residents must rise up to "defend" their own interests, and that he is the "leader" standing up for the people. In reality, he is trying to fool them into supporting his hubristic history-defying course. A course that heralds disaster for the island.

For his own personal political gain, the diehard secessionist turns a blind eye to the fact that what he is doing is dragging the entire island and its people into a crisis that will lead the island only to ruin.

In Lai's eyes, Taiwan people are nothing and so is the future of the island.

Beating the DPP's "opposition parties" and making sure that he can pursue the island's "independence" is all that he cares about.

If he really cared about the well-being of Taiwan compatriots and the future of the island, he would recognize how foolish and dangerous it is for him to talk about the island's "defense" against its motherland.