The leader of Taiwan's DPP Tsai Ing-wen's recent pro-independence provocations, both in words and deeds, have seriously undermined the cross-Strait relations and brought more and more burdens for the residents on the Taiwan island.
The people living on the island have a keener sense of insecurity and anxiety because Tsai, by colluding with foreign forces, has kept straining the relations across the Taiwan Strait.
The lack of security not only affects the people’s daily life, but also casts a shadow over Taiwan’s long-term economic development. Recently, the international media has obviously paid more attention to the cross-Strait relations and often used such words as “tension” and “danger” when reporting on the Strait situation. According to statistics from Taiwan’s economic department, investment from outside the island was slashed from January to September for the main reason that the DPP authorities’ constant moves to damage cross-Strait relations have complicated the situation. The decrease in investment leads to fewer jobs, making it harder for young people on the island to get a paycheck.
The DPP is also eager to echo with anti-China foreign politicians in making pro-independence provocations, and has been hyping up their ridiculous remarks through DPP's media. However, what the DPP doesn’t dare tell its residents is that these anti-China politicians are not welcome in their own country.
In 2021, Japan’s then-Vice Minister of Defense Yasuhide Nakayama, who has constantly made wrong remarks about Taiwan, lost the Lower House election in October. Cory Gardner, a Republican senator in the US elected in 2014, threw out the notorious TAIPEI Act and the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act during his term and met with Tsai Ing-wen three times in Taiwan from 2017 to 2019. His acts have seriously violated the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, and sent a wrong signal to the Taiwan-independence secessionists, which finally led to his failure during the senatorial election in November 2020.
The year 2021 has seen Taiwan people suffering from the shortage of water and electricity, and they are getting increasingly dissatisfied with the DPP authorities according to polls. Some commented that a key reason why the DPP wants to obstruct the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations is that it hopes to deflect attention from the social woes on the island.
Taiwan will only prosper when the two sides of the Strait are in peace and have good relations. We hope all Taiwan compatriots can understand that the island’s future lies in the country’s reunification, and the Taiwan people’s wellbeing hinges on the nation’s rejuvenation. They should resolutely oppose and contain “Taiwan independence”, work together to promote peaceful and integrated development across the Strait, and improve their own wellbeing while contributing to the cause of national reunification and rejuvenation.
(Yu Qiang, a professor at the University of International Relations)
Editor's note: This article is originally published on haiwainet.cn, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
