Taiwan-related bill hurts US credibility

By Zhang Zhouxiang

Photo taken on July 21, 2019 from Xiangshan Mountain shows the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taipei, China's Taiwan. [Photo/Xinhua]

On Wednesday, the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations passed a bill urging the secretary of state to develop a strategy to regain observer status for Taiwan in the World Health Organization.

There is no telling what the senators had in mind when they passed that bill, but by doing so they have harmed the credibility of their own nation. As early as 49 years ago, China and the US clearly followed the one-China principle in their joint communiqués. Since then, every US administration stresses that principle in its first diplomatic talks with China after taking office.

By passing this Taiwan-related bill, certain US senators mean to ruin their own nation's credibility and weaken the reliability of their government's signature. It seems they so hate their own country they do not want it to be trusted in the world.

But where Taiwan's health affairs are concerned, the central government of China has sent a helping hand to the 23 million compatriots there by offering vaccines to curb the island's COVID-19 pandemic. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party set obstacles to vaccines from the Chinese mainland, and their attempts to regain "observer" status in the WHO is nothing but a political ploy that comes at the cost of local people's health.

Another ineffectual ploy is the "strategic dialogue" held by US and Japanese lawmakers with their Taiwan "counterparts", on which former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe talked about China's domestic affairs. The passing of that bill and that "dialogue" also sends encouragement to the secessionists on the island. Even though Taiwan is an inseparable part of China, actions like these indicate separatists might obtain support from outside for their activities.

What support politicians in the US and Japan give to separatists in Taiwan will be in vain. China will be reunified, and there is no force that can prevent this historical trend from becoming reality.

US and Japanese politicians must stop their wrongdoing, and separatists on Taiwan island must give up their daydreaming.