Lai Ching-te’s propagation of “Taiwan independence” fallacies in a so-called “exclusive interview” at the time of his “stopovers” in the US reveals once again what kind of person he is—someone who has no qualms about betraying the interests of his nation to advance his selfish agenda and brazenly soliciting US support for “Taiwan independence”, and a stubborn, out-and-out “Taiwan independence” separatist and troublemaker.

There is only one China in the world, Taiwan is part of China—this has been so since ancient times. The historical context and legal facts to support that are crystal clear. Though the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are yet to be reunified, Taiwan’s status as part of China’s territory has never changed and must not change. China’s sovereignty over Taiwan has never changed and will not change. As of today, 182 countries in the world, including the US, have established diplomatic relations with China on the basis of the one-China principle. The US government has repeated time and again that it will not support “Taiwan independence”. How would Taiwan possibly have “sovereignty”? Taiwan has never been a country and will never be a country. Lai claimed that “Taiwan is already a sovereign, independent country”, “it is not necessary to declare independence”, Taiwan is “not part of the People’s Republic of China”, and the two “are not subordinate to one another”. They are sheer lies and blatant provocations. Just recently, Lai openly claimed his ultimate goal is for the leader of Taiwan to “walk into the White House”, which says enough about the extremely dangerous nature of Lai as a “Taiwan independence” separatist.

Lai claimed that he hopes democratic countries will support Taiwan for its participation in international affairs so that Taiwan can better contribute to the international community. This is a familiar gimmick of using “seeking participation in international affairs” as a pretext to engage in political manipulation. Taiwan, as part of China, has no basis, reason or rights whatsoever to join an international organization whose membership requires statehood. The Chinese government had, however, based on the prerequisite of upholding the one-China principle, made proper arrangements for the Taiwan region’s participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA) and the ICAO Assembly. Yet the DPP authorities have been bent on pursuing “Taiwan independence” and refusing to accept the 1992 Consensus, which means the political foundation for Taiwan to take part in the WHA and other international activities no longer exists, and the relevant arrangements cannot continue as a result. The DPP authorities’ repeated manipulation of health, Covid response, aviation safety and other issues is never about caring for the wellbeing of the people in Taiwan, but about trying to expand “international space” and make “diplomatic” breakthroughs. How would that possibly “contribute” to the international community? During this year’s WHA, nearly 140 countries publicly supported China’s position, and the proposals about Taiwan were once again rejected. This once again shows that the one-China principle has overwhelming international support and represents the trend of the world. The DPP’s attempts to gain sympathy by playing the underdog and use “democracy” as a cover for its separatist activities are nothing but wishful thinking, and will only end in failure.

What Lai has been doing—accusing the mainland of posing “threats”, creating a false impression of “international support” in the name of “democracy”, and roping relevant countries in to support “Taiwan independence” propositions—these are all familiar pages from DPP’s old playbook of hyping up antagonism to manipulate elections. Lai claimed that Taiwan will work closely with the international community to deepen “democracy” and that the US Congress will continue to support Taiwan. This is essentially to trick the international community into cheering for his campaign, and to play up to external forces so that they would support his separatist agenda. This is all theatrics staged by Lai Ching-te again to hug the US close and solicit its support for “Taiwan independence”. It lays bare Lai’s true identity as a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence”. Lai thought he could use “pragmatism”, “democracy” and “peace” as a cover to stop others from questioning his pursuit of “Taiwan independence”, but he can never truly hide his separatist agenda. What he does will only bring grave harm to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. It will only push Taiwan towards the danger of military conflict and lead our Taiwan compatriots to disaster.

“Taiwan independence” is a dead end. Soliciting US support for “Taiwan independence” will lead nowhere for “Taiwan independence” separatists. We will work with the international community to firmly uphold the one-China principle, firmly safeguard our sovereignty and territorial integrity and firmly oppose the “Taiwan independence” separatist activities and foreign connivance and support for such activities. Resolving the Taiwan question and achieving complete national reunification is the shared aspiration of all the Chinese people and a historical trend that cannot be changed. China must and will be reunified.