Commentary: Washington's despicable manipulation of "Taiwan card" doomed to failure

BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Despite China's solemn representations and repeated warnings, Washington still arranged a mousey "transit" trip for Tsai Ing-wen and her meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

This is a calculated political provocation against China and a potentially dangerous move in support of "Taiwan independence." Washington's longstanding tactic of playing the "Taiwan card" to contain China is doomed to fail, and will consequently backfire.

In the China-U.S. Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations in 1978, Washington clearly promised to maintain only unofficial contact with Taiwan. In recent years, U.S. leaders have repeatedly emphasized their commitment of not supporting "Taiwan independence" or "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan."

Noteworthy, however, is the fact that Kevin McCarthy is the third highest-ranking official of the U.S. government. Therefore, such a meeting arrangement is a blatant violation of the commitments made by the United States in the three China-U.S. joint communiques and a serious breach of the one-China principle.

The United States has been playing nasty tricks on the Taiwan question recently. It is now using Tsai Ing-wen's so-called stopover to heighten tension across the Taiwan Straits, which is bringing new troubles to China-U.S. relations.

For some time, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities in Taiwan have been touting Tsai's sneaky trip to the United States as a so-called "diplomatic breakthrough." Washington's reckless instigation of such behavior is concrete proof of deliberately trampling on the one-China principle.

Rather than contain the "Taiwan independence" forces, the United States has instead chosen to wink at and support the so-called "breakthrough" efforts of the Taiwan authorities, a dangerous move to undermine the political foundation of China-U.S. relations and cast a new shadow over the entire Pacific Ocean region.

As a matter of fact, the United States remains bent on providing Tsai, a staunch advocate of the "Taiwan independence" forces, with various platforms to make a political show, sending wrong signals to the separatist forces.

The mainstream public opinion at home and abroad believes that the U.S. connivance in "Taiwan independence" forces is precisely a significant external factor that has fomented instability across the Taiwan Straits, and that its collusion with "Taiwan independence" forces poses a threat to the overall security of the Asia-Pacific region.

It is now increasingly clear that in order to contain China and to preserve its global supremacy, the United States is always ready to deliberately manipulate the "Taiwan card," and intentionally disrupt both regional and global stability.

Over the years, from its "Rebalance to Asia and the Pacific" to "Indo-Pacific Strategy," from messing up China's Hong Kong to mongering rumors about China's Xinjiang and Tibet, the United States has resorted to various despicable schemes to defame and suppress China.

By branding China as a "strategic competitor," the United States has roped other countries into its small circles, bolstered the Five Eyes alliance, peddled the Quad grouping, created AUKUS alliance, and tried every possible means to build an Asia-Pacific version of NATO. And the "Taiwan card" is considered the linchpin of the U.S. strategy to contain China.

A veritable double-dealer on the Taiwan question is the United States, which seeks to distort and hollow out the one-China principle through its blatant and furtive attempts to cross the red line on the issue. It unilaterally adopted the so-called "Taiwan Relations Act" and boosted arms sales to the Chinese island. Its orchestration of Tsai's so-called "transit" is merely another attempt to provoke and suppress China.

Separatists like Tsai are frankly nothing but a pawn for the United States to contain China. Proof abounds of Washington prioritizing its own interests at the cost of others.

The "Taiwan independence" forces will eventually and inevitably be abandoned by Washington, as some U.S. politicians have reportedly claimed to abandon or even destroy Taiwan.

The Taiwan question is at the very core of China's core interests, the bedrock of the political foundation of China-U.S. relations, and the first red line that must not be crossed in the relationship.

The United States is playing with fire by supporting "Taiwan independence." China will never tolerate the U.S. manipulation of the Taiwan question to serve its domestic politics or the interests of certain politicians.

An article recently published on The Diplomat website pointed out that Washington should place clear limits on Taiwan-U.S. interactions to emphasize that they are unofficial, and do not involve contact between senior officials.

It stressed that only through actions instead of words can Washington revive the credibility of its one-China policy, in return for credible Chinese actions.

The misleading policies of the United States on Taiwan will have a devastating impact on China-U.S. relations. Mounting tension across the Taiwan Straits and souring relations with China make it imperative for Washington to honor its political commitment to China. And such political farces as the so-called stopover must be rooted out.