中文
By Lal Mia
The 2024 Taiwan regional leadership election was held on January 13, which was closely watched by both sides of the Taiwan Straits. The outcome of the election will have a significant impact on not only the cross-Straits relations but also the stability and integrated development of the Asia-Pacific.
Tsai Ing-wen, the current leader of China's Taiwan region, recently spewed vitriol against the Chinese mainland and peaceful reunification in the lead-up to the election. In her New Year address, Tsai used her normal hyperbole. According to media reports, she said strengthening Taiwan's "defense capabilities is vital, with the total defense budget for this year to hit a new high of" about $19.5 billion in 2024. Tsai also anticipated cross-Straits tranquility in the same speech.
Why do Taiwan's authorities require more "defense capability"? Taiwan's military buildup, inspired by the U.S.'s aggressive intentions, positions the island as a U.S. card against the Chinese mainland, and compatriots on the island feel more threatened and concerned. This shows that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) only cares about itself and the U.S., not the people. Taiwan's authorities are busy with "Taiwan independence" with Washington's delusion.
The compatriots on the island must know that the DPP and the U.S. are harming the cross-Straits integration and people-to-people contact. Taiwan's secessionist efforts to undermine peace between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland will fail. "China will surely be reunified, and all Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Straits should be bound by a common sense of purpose and share in the glory of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," said Chinese President Xi Jinping in his New Year message.
Looking back, China's objective of national reunification is inevitable, which is crucial to its revitalization. Taiwan is part of China's "sacred territory," according to the Constitution. Reuniting the country is the inviolable obligation of all Chinese, including compatriots on the island. Thus, the mainland supports peaceful development and collaboration across the Straits, as well as the one-China principle, and opposes Taiwan's independence and outsiders' meddling. The mainland is doing all it can to promote peaceful cross-Straits exchanges, such as the Cross-Straits CEO Summit in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Fujian-Taiwan cross-Straits integration mechanism, and the Three Direct Links across the Straits.
During the 2024 Taiwan leadership election campaign, regional deputy leader Lai Ching-te has publicly supported Taiwan's independence, saying that "the two sides of Taiwan Straits do not belong to each other," which could harm the greater interests of Chinese people and compatriots on the island and endanger peaceful unification.
In 1992, the Chinese mainland and Taiwan agreed that both sides of the Taiwan Straits belong to one China, laying a political foundation for cross-Straits discussion and consultation. However, as a U.S. agent and secessionist, Lai failed to understand the island's history and the thinking of the people across the Straits. People shouldn't fall for Lai and the DPP's plot again. The compatriots are now tasked with a crucial decision between "peace and war" and "prosperity and recession."
In fact, good cross-Straits ties are desired by most individuals and enterprises in the Taiwan region, with over half seeing the mainland favorably. 3,532 cross-Straits marriages were reported in the first half of 2023, increasing 185 percent year-on-year, according to a report by Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council. Many people on the mainland and island consider themselves "one family." This link is unbreakable. The Chinese mainland thanked Foxconn, Want Want, and Minth Group for their assistance after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake in Gansu Province last December. Didn't secessionist DPP notice this?
Taiwan's DPP authorities are harming institutionalized economic cooperation across the Straits. For instance, Taiwan's DPP has imposed discriminatory trade restrictions on mainland products, affecting 12 chemical products from Taiwan from receiving preferential tax rates in the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement. This could significantly impact Taiwan's economy. People in Taiwan need to understand how DPP is hurting them.
Taiwan's secessionists will sacrifice crucial industries for military spending. DPP mismanagement and corruption hurt the economy. Taiwan residents won't allow it. The Chinese mainland and Taiwan need robust cross-Straits relations. Despite secessionists, most compatriots on the island seek peaceful growth and inclusion. The restoration of the "mini three links" has changed cross-Straits relations, with attempts to sustain ties, progress national reunification, and maintain peace. Investors and businesspeople from Taiwan want cross-Straits collaboration.
The "One Country, Two Systems" approach helps the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and the Macao SAR flourish and remain stable. Taiwan needs this mechanism to unite with the mainland for a common future. The DPP has been opposing the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus, trying to stifle cross-Straits exchanges and collaboration. But their subversive tactics are doomed to fail. Reunification is necessary since it is China's territory and internal affairs.
Lal Mia, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is a freelance columnist, and researcher from Bangladesh.
