Lai taking dead-end path at cost of Taiwan: China Daily editorial

The Democratic Progressive Party authorities of China's Taiwan region have been at the center of a heated debate over their proposed arms procurement bill. Initially seeking to allocate a staggering NT$1.25 trillion ($40 billion) for military spending, the DPP authorities' ambitions met with strong resistance from opposition parties and the public alike.

The passage on Friday of a revised bill, with the budget reduced to NT$780 billion, once again demonstrated that the "Taiwan independence" forces cannot ignore mainstream public opinion on the island.

Taiwan's taxpayers are still footing the bill for the gamble of the DPP's push for "Taiwan independence". There is growing anxiety within Taiwan society over the dire consequences of the DPP authorities' secessionist policies.

Lai Ching-te, the secessionist-minded head of the DPP authorities, has pledged to raise the island's security budget to 5 percent of GDP by 2030, describing the initiative as a "necessary investment" aimed at addressing "regional security challenges" and strengthening so-called "asymmetric warfare" capabilities.

Critics within Taiwan have rightly argued that Lai is attempting to justify his secessionist policies with lies falsely framing Taiwan as a "vulnerable" entity.

During a hearing of the Senate Committee on Armed Services last month, Admiral Samuel Paparo, head of the US "Indo-Pacific" Command, bluntly stated, "It's not a chicken and the egg, because you're not going to get chicken or eggs if you starve the chicken." He urged Taiwan to pass its stalled defense budget as soon as possible to avoid starving the US military-industrial complex.

The DPP's planned military spending is akin to paying "protection fees" to the US at the cost of the island's education, healthcare and social welfare.

The DPP authorities are also actively aligning with Japan, aiming to leverage its support for their secessionist cause. Lai has frequently made shameless shows of reverence for symbols of the Japanese colonial era, even going so far as to kneel in gratitude before a statue of a de facto Japanese occupier during a public ceremony over the weekend.

The Lai authorities intentionally downplay the impact of Japanese colonial rule — it is estimated over 600,000 people in Taiwan lost their lives in the struggle against Japan's colonial rule and in the broader effort to restore the Taiwan region to China from 1895 to 1945 — to sever the island from its cultural and historical roots.

Lai portrayed Japanese invaders and colonizers as "saviors", when in fact they were killers and robbers. He also characterized US arms dealers as "protectors", though they are nothing more than exploiters.

Such words and deeds are evidence of the deceptive nature of the DPP authorities, whose diehard secessionist stance means the political foundation for Taiwan to participate in the World Health Assembly does not exist, as the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

To uphold the one-China principle and defend the seriousness and authority of the relevant United Nations General Assembly and World Health Assembly resolutions, the Chinese mainland has decided not to agree to Taiwan's participation in this year's WHA as an observer.

Notably, to advance the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and enhance the kinship and well-being of compatriots across the Strait, the mainland has recently rolled out a package of 10 policies and measures — spanning infrastructure, travel, trade and culture.

The DPP authorities have been going to great lengths to smear the aforementioned policies and measures that serve the common interests of both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Their actions are a blatant attempt to call black white.

Taiwan's future lies not in relying on external forces, but in advancing peaceful development and deepening dialogue and cooperation across the Taiwan Strait. That represents the rational path forward and the shared aspiration of compatriots on both sides of the Strait.

Any attempt by "Taiwan independence" forces to seek separatist agendas through foreign support is doomed to failure.