Spokeswoman: Separatism doomed to fail

The results of the second round of recall votes targeting lawmakers of the Chinese Kuomintang party in Taiwan show that "Taiwan independence" separatism runs against the will of the people and is bound to fail, a Chinese mainland official said on Sunday.

Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said the people of Taiwan "have once again said no" to the Democratic Progressive Party's "malicious political farce" to suppress dissent and divide society.

This clearly demonstrates that any form of "Taiwan independence" separatism and political manipulation is doomed to fail, she added.

The second round of recall votes targeting seven legislators failed on Saturday, with none of the recall proposals being passed, marking another sweeping victory for the KMT. Following the announcement of the results, Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te said the DPP "respects and accepts" the outcome.

After two rounds of voting in vain, the DPP still remains a minority party in Taiwan's legislature, holding 51 seats out of 113. This overwhelming rejection of the recall campaign shows growing public discontent with the DPP's divisive and undemocratic style of governance, experts and officials said.

Wang Shushen, deputy head of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Taiwan Studies, said the successive recall vote failures indicate widespread dissatisfaction among Taiwan people with Lai's arbitrary and undemocratic style of governance.

"Nearly all public opinion polls in Taiwan showed that more than half of the population opposed the large-scale recall campaign," Wang said.

The recall campaign targeting lawmakers was initiated by civil groups backed by the DPP, which did not secure a legislative majority despite winning the election in Taiwan in January 2024. While the DPP holds 51 seats, the KMT holds 52 and the Taiwan People's Party eight.

Political analysts see the recall votes as an attempt to guarantee the DPP's control over the legislature. However, Saturday's results were a second straight setback for the ruling DPP. All seven opposition lawmakers held onto their seats, as did 24 legislators during the first round of recall votes on July 26.

In June, ahead of the recall campaign, Lai prepared a 10-part series of speeches promoting anti-China sentiments, but managed to deliver only four.

Wang said the speeches failed to win people's hearts, as these were widely perceived as hypocritical. "On the one hand, Lai aimed to unify the island through his speeches, but on the other hand, he used pro-DPP affiliate groups to eliminate the opposition," Wang said.

On Saturday, KMT Chairman Eric Chu Li-luan said: "Lai's administration has been mobilizing hatred to consolidate power, sacrificing the trust and harmony of society as a whole. It should halt all political maneuvers that create division."

Wang, from the CASS, said that the recall results also underscore Taiwan people's focus on economic and livelihood matters, rather than political rivalries.