Lai's 'security' spending only buying trouble: China Daily editorial

That Taiwan is an inalienable part of China is an ironclad fact that cannot be distorted or tampered with. Any pursuit of "Taiwan independence" by the secessionists on the Chinese island will only lead to a dead end.

Yet despite this undeniable reality, there are those who still persist in pursuing this futile cause. Among them is Lai Ching-te, a die-hard separatist who heads the local authorities of the island and who will stop at nothing to manifest this delusion.

His divorce from reality was once again on display in a Washington Post op-ed piece published on Wednesday. In it the Democratic Progressive Party leader announced a $40 billion "special defense budget" to acquire more "asymmetrical" weapons from the United States, in addition to the island's main annual "military budget". This comes at a critical juncture when relations between Beijing and Washington are demonstrating positive and steady momentum under the strategic guidance of the head-of-state diplomacy and when relations between Beijing and Tokyo are fraught due to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's erroneous and dangerous remarks on the Taiwan question.

Lai's move speaks volumes about how the island's secession-pursuing authorities are hoping to exploit the contentious nature of the US' arms sales to Taiwan. However, in the telephone talk between the leaders of China and the US on Monday, the US president said that the US understands how important the Taiwan question is to China.

But the DPP authorities led by Lai seem to believe that the more efforts they make to ingratiate Taipei with Washington, the more hope they have of the island being an active pawn in the geopolitical game of the US, thus bringing themselves under the security umbrella of the US. That only belies the malignant nature of their secessionist cause.

The timing of Lai's article also shows that Lai and his secessionist clique are trying to take advantage of the Japanese leader's readiness to interfere in the Taiwan Strait situation to entangle Japan further into their secessionist agenda.

Notably, Lai posted pictures on social media of himself eating Japanese-sourced sushi on Thursday last week, at a time when Japanese seafood is losing its popularity in the Chinese mainland market, claiming it demonstrated the "solid friendship" between the island and Japan.

But as Peng Qing'en, a spokesperson for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Wednesday, Lai's words and deeds have just exposed his "ugly face" and his betrayal of the motherland.

Takaichi's remarks seriously violated international law and the basic norms governing international relations, and breached the one-China principle and the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan. Lai's open endorsement of them clearly indicates the DPP leader's intention to aggravate the diplomatic crisis between Beijing and Tokyo.

In the calculation of the island's secessionists, the more complicated the situation is in East Asia, the better it is for them. But their single-minded pursuit of their secessionist goal has pulled wool over their eyes about the resolve and capability of the mainland to realize national reunification.

As usual, Lai has overestimated the role his secessionist clique can play in the overall landscape of international relations. The ripples their moves create are nothing compared to the various currents that drive the development of the regional situation.

The DPP authorities fail to realize how ridiculous it is for them to believe that buying more arms from the US will somehow enable them to resist the Chinese People's Liberation Army if push comes to shove. It would also be naive of them to think buying US weapons or currying favor with Japan can have the dogs wagged by their tails.

The spokesperson of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council rightly warned the DPP authorities that "any traitor who betrays the nation will inevitably face the judgment of justice".

Lai is callously squandering the island's money that should have been devoted to strengthening the island's economy and improving the well-being of the Taiwan residents. He is in effect buying trouble. Whatever move the DPP authorities make in pursuit of their secessionist goal only makes life harder for people on the island and further reduces their sense of security.

Meanwhile, those external patrons that the DPP authorities are relying on, be it Japan or any other external party, should weigh their gain and loss before interfering in the Taiwan question.