Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council

Taiwan regional leader Lai Ching-te's speech on Wednesday marking his second year in office drew criticism from China's Foreign Ministry, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council and China's Ministry of National Defense on the same day, with spokespersons saying the remarks are rife with lies and deception and exposed Lai's ugly true nature as a saboteur of cross-Straits peace.

A mainland observer told the Global Times that Lai's speech is essentially a carefully glossed over "political performance" amid domestic and foreign difficulties, and it is rife with self contradictory narratives and hypocritical pretenses of peace.

The claims by Lai, as reported by Taiwan media outlets including UDN, asserted that Taiwan's future should not be dictated by external forces or held hostage by fear, division or short term interests. While stressing the maintenance of cross Straits peace and stability, he claimed to press ahead with defense reforms and bolster asymmetric warfare capabilities. 

Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Wednesday that Lai's speech is rife with lies and deception, hostility and confrontation.

Stubbornly clinging to the erroneous stance of "Taiwan independence," Lai peddles fallacies such as "sovereign independence" and "mutual non-subordination," hypes up the "mainland threat," escalates cross-Straits confrontation and deliberately pursues "Taiwan independence through military means" and "relying on external forces for separatist gains," undermining peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, the spokesperson said.

This once again confirms that Lai is nothing short of a saboteur of cross-Straits peace and a creator of crises in the Taiwan Straits, Chen said.

While continuing to advocate "Taiwan independence" separatism and manipulate anti mainland sentiments, Lai hypocritically claims to promote cross-Straits dialogue and exchanges, attempting to mislead the public in Taiwan and deceive international public opinion. These habitual tricks have been seen through by a growing number of Taiwan people, Chen said.

"His deceptive and provocative acts are bound to meet firm opposition from compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits and the international community, and are doomed to failure," Chen added.

In response to the separatist rhetoric that "foreign forces cannot decide the future of Taiwan" made by Lai during his speech, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Wednesday that Lai's persistent separatist stance and his true agenda of seeking "Taiwan independence" under the cover of so-called democracy has proved himself as a saboteur of peace, creator of crisis and troublemaker.

Recently, leaders and political figures from the overwhelming majority of countries in the international community has reaffirmed their commitment to the one-China principle through various ways. Facts show that opposing "Taiwan independence" separatism and supporting China's reunification is where the arc of history bends and public opinion trends, Guo said. 

Chinese Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Jiang Bin also warned the DPP authorities that no matter how much money they spend or how many weapons they buy, it will all be as futile as "a mantis trying to stop a chariot" or "an egg striking a rock." "Seeking independence through military means" is a dead end, while national reunification is the only bright path forward.

The claims by Lai also triggered criticism within the island. Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of the Chinese Kuomintang fiercely criticized Lai on Wednesday, calling his speech full of lies and the biggest joke of the year, nothing but empty rhetoric and flowery language, Taiwan's TVBS reported.

An editorial published on Wednesday by Taiwan-based media outlet UDN, titled "Two years in office, one impeachment: witnessing Lai's constitutional governance failure," stated that over the two years in office, he has never heeded the repeated warnings of public opinion.

The sweeping defeat of the recall campaigns has shown voters' strong aversion to endless confrontation. Nevertheless, the ruling authorities have acted contrarily, relying increasingly on ideological labels such as "resisting mainland to protect Taiwan" or "opposing the Kuomintang and People First Party," per editorial.

The Lai administration's style of being both administratively incompetent and high handed is unprecedented, truly astounding the public, the media outlet said.

While claiming to uphold cross Straits peace and stability, Lai hypes up the "mainland threat," arguing peace cannot rely on concessions and illusions. He thus pushes for sharp rises in defense spending and so called asymmetric warfare capabilities. This hypocrisy of chanting peace slogans while draining Taiwan's resources for costly arms purchases exposes his "peace" rhetoric as a political manoeuvre aimed at currying favor with the US, Zhu Guilan, an assistant professor at Tsinghua University's Institute of Taiwan Studies, told the Global Times.

Zhu called Lai strategically two faced, saying his speech deceives the world and stokes internal division. While feigning willingness to talk with the mainland on equality and dignity, Lai harbors the "new two state theory" to frame cross Straits ties as so-called state to state relations. Rejecting peaceful reunification and pushing the absurd "cross Straits merger theory," he lays bare his stubborn separatist stance.

No matter what "Taiwan independence" separatist forces say or do, the people in the Taiwan region will not be misled; the fundamental reality that the Taiwan question is purely China's internal affairs will not be changed; the international commitment to the one-China principle will not be shaken; and the historical trend that China will and must achieve reunification will not be stopped, Guo said.