Screenshot from the video of Al Jazeera's interview with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim

In a recent interview with Qatar's Al Jazeera, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar, faced with a series of leading questions from the host, repeatedly emphasized that "I see Taiwan as part of China, period." Citing Malaysia as an example, he stated bluntly that if any part of the country sought to break away, he would use force to uphold national unity; otherwise, the country would risk becoming fragmented.

Anwar was simply stating a matter of common sense - one that is also the consensus among the vast majority of nations. Any leader of a responsible nation anywhere in the world would give the same answer when faced with separatist forces. The primary reason former US President Abraham Lincoln declared war on the South was to "defend the unity of the Union." In 2017, when the autonomous region of Catalonia in Spain declared "independence," the Spanish government took swift action to defend national unity. The Indian Constitution explicitly prohibits any separatist claims, and in the 1980s, India forcefully suppressed the Sikh armed separatist movement. China's legitimacy in safeguarding its territorial sovereignty and integrity is not, nor can it ever be, "inferior" to that of other countries.

In fact, Anwar's remarks have not sparked any significant dissent on the international stage. However, some people in the Taiwan region can no longer sit idly by. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) hastily accused Anwar of "undermining Taiwan's sovereignty" and even threatened that his remarks about "one‑sided support for" the Chinese mainland could adversely affect the confidence of businesspeople in the Taiwan region investing in Malaysia. No one paid any attention to this clamor; on the contrary, it only served to confirm the DPP's "Taiwan independence" stance.

The one-China principle is becoming increasingly solid and unshakable in the international community. The "green camp" has long harbored the fantasy of "relying on foreign powers to pursue independence," attempting to manipulate "democratic values" to secure external support for its separatist actions. However, as the leader of a key ASEAN nation, Anwar's public and unequivocal statement has directly shattered these "Taiwan independence" fantasies. The "threats" issued by the pro-independence camp in a fit of rage expose their anxiety and unease in the face of the inevitable course of history. The people of the Taiwan region should also clearly recognize that those politicians clamoring for "resistance against China" are utterly incapable of altering the reality that "Taiwan independence" is a dead-end path.

There is but one China in the world, and Taiwan has been an inalienable part of China's territory. For the Taiwan region, the one-China principle is a solid ceiling that no political party or group can possibly breach. China must be reunified, and it will inevitably be reunified - this is an unalterable historical trend. Those external forces that foolishly attempt to "use Taiwan to contain China" will likewise suffer a crushing defeat if they do not correct their course.