Lai Ching-te’s ‘10 talks on unity’ are a desperate political show: Global Times editorial

Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

On Sunday, Lai Ching-te delivered the first of 10 speeches in a series called "uniting the country," planned to be delivered across the island of Taiwan. Under the guise of calling for "unity" on the island, Lai's speech was, in fact, hyping hypocritical political rhetoric. At its core, this is an attempt to cover up Lai's true separatist intentions with carefully packaged storytelling, deliberately edited historical narratives and fabricated claims of a so-called "country." The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council aptly described the speech as a blatant "Taiwan independence manifesto," inciting confrontation across the Straits, and a patchwork of deeply flawed and misguided separatist rhetoric.

Lai's "10 talks" are actually not on "unity," but "separatism." They are using historical revisionism to cut off the roots of the nation, using legal fraud to break the bottom line of one China, using empty talk about people's livelihood to cover up incompetence in governance and using the banner of "democracy" to exercise authoritarianism. Lai's attempt to claim that "Taiwan is a country" by simply applying the so-called "four essential elements of a state" framework is completely divorced from historical facts, legal foundations and current realities - and is an utterly absurd claim. He also repeatedly makes an issue of UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, deliberately distorting its legitimacy, validity and authority, while openly challenging the authority of international law. Under the pretense of "unity," Lai is pursuing secessionist deeds, confirming once again that he is a "saboteur of peace" and a "crisis maker" across the Taiwan Straits.

This so-called unity-themed tour was scheduled after Lai hyped up his "17 strategies to counter so-called threats facing the island" and before the upcoming recall vote. The so-called "10 talks" cover topics such as "nation," "democracy" and "unity," but conspicuously leave out any issues directly related to people's livelihoods such as energy or housing. This lays bare the fact that Lai does not care about people's livelihood at all. Clearly, what he is so obsessed with is fabricating and piecing together justifications for his "Taiwan independence" narrative and creating publicity and propaganda to promote the political struggle of the "Great Recall" for his own political gains.

Lai's desperate attempt to promote "unity" ironically reflects the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities' loss of the public's support and moral legitimacy. The louder Lai calls on the public to "unite and cooperate," the more it reveals the resistance among Taiwan residents to his secessionist words and deeds, as well as their discontent with the DPP's "green terror." In the more than a year since Lai took office, Taiwan's livelihood issues have seen no substantial improvement. In fact, the island has plunged into multiple crises: Semiconductor giants, such as TSMC, are accelerating their relocation to the US; the number of days with power shortages is increasing constantly across Taiwan; and youth unemployment keeps rising. Public criticism of the DPP authorities is growing ever more intense. Polls show that public dissatisfaction with Lai's governance has repeatedly hit new highs, clearly showing where the people's hearts lie.

Since taking office in May last year, Lai has gone further and further down the path of "Taiwan independence." From continuously advocating the "new two-state theory" of "mutual non-subordination," to resorting to administrative, judicial and public opinion means to intensify provocations to pursue "independence" to sparing no effort to block cross-Straits exchanges, all of these have caused serious damage to peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits. His stubborn stance as well as aggressive words and deeds are gradually pushing Taiwan to the brink of danger and putting 23 million Taiwan compatriots in deep distress. Today, Taiwan youth and even middle school students are being treated as objects for "war preparedness mobilization" by the authorities, streets and alleys are set up as "training grounds," and temples and ancestral halls in various places have become "ammunition depots." Is this behavior "maintaining peace in the Taiwan Straits and the region" or is it leading the island to an abyss of no return?

The desire for peace, development, exchanges and cooperation is the mainstream public opinion on the island. The vast majority of Taiwan compatriots do not want to fight a war at all, let alone fight for "Taiwan independence." No matter how hard Lai tries, he cannot change the legal fact that Taiwan is part of China, nor can he shake the basic pattern of the international community's adherence to the one-China principle. Needless to say, he cannot stop the historical trend that China will and must achieve reunification. Whether the DPP authorities are reversing history or pursuing "independence" in a crazy manner, they will only hit their heads and bleed in front of the iron wall of anti-"independence" and punishment of "independence."

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, as well as the 80th anniversary of the recovery of Taiwan. Eighty years ago, the Chinese people united to defeat the invaders and the island of Taiwan returned to China. Today's China will never swallow the bitter fruit of its territory being divided and occupied again. No individual or force should dream of splitting Taiwan from China, and no individual or force should underestimate the Chinese people's strong determination, firm will and strong ability to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.