Two Su-35 fighter jets and a H-6K bomber fly in formation on May 11, 2018. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) air force conducted patrol training over China's island of Taiwan.File photo:China Military

The Wall Street Journal's Thursday report that about two dozen members of US special operations and support troops "secretly operating in Taiwan to train military forces there" for at least a year has attracted extensive attention. Both the Pentagon and Taipei declined to comment on the report, but since the US has exposed the news through anonymous officials, it has taken a step forward to undermine, from covertly to semi-overtly, the key conditions for the establishment of diplomatic relations between Chinese mainland and the US. 

The US dispatching military personnel to the island of Taiwan is a very severe matter. The US, out of the need for providing after-sales training to Taiwan's military forces, had also sent military personnel to the island in the past, but it did so quietly. The US now attempts to send a strong signal to Chinese mainland by semi-publicizing such operations. It has chosen a sensitive time: Aircraft from the mainland conducted large-scale exercises near the island of Taiwan during the National Day holidays and caused a sensation, while high-level Chinese and US officials just met in Zurich and reached a certain consensus on alleviating bilateral relations.   

The US wants to get on the mainland's nerves. This is a consistent tactic of Washington. The mainland must respond to the US' new provocations to make both Washington and the island of Taiwan fully realize the severity of their collusion. Otherwise, in the next step, US military staff may show up in Taiwan island, publicly wearing uniforms and their number may increase from dozens to hundreds or even more to form a de facto US garrison in the island. We must let them know they are playing with fire to provoke a war and the consequences their acts will bring are unbearable to both the US and Taiwan island. 

The US and Taiwan island are most worried that the mainland is completing its military preparations for attacking Taiwan and is likely to resolve the Taiwan question by force or force Taiwan authorities to surrender in a few years or even a shorter period of time. Then we must clearly tell them that any act to strengthen the US-Taiwan collusion will further reinforce the mainland's resolve to realize reunification by force. It will also accelerate overall preparations for military actions and lead the critical moment to come earlier. 

Second, we must resolutely define the deployment of US troops in Taiwan as an "invasion." The mainland has the right to carry out military strikes against them at any time. We will not make any promises over their safety. Once a war breaks out in the Taiwan Straits, those US military personnel will be the first to be eliminated. Through such a declaration, we must make Washington understand that it is playing a dangerous game that is destined to draw fire onto itself and it is risking the lives of young US soldiers. 

Third, the mainland has the initiative to decide the timetable of when to take military strikes and the country will make overall decisions. Domestic cohesion and the public's high trust in the country are of critical importance. We must make the US and Taiwan island have a deep sense of crisis for the future and let them understand the rhythm of the cross-Straits situation is not decided by their plot. We won't dance to their tune but will crush their tricks with strategic aggressiveness.  

The struggle across the Taiwan Straits is about a process, but is more about a result. The result is: The island will finally return to the embrace of the motherland. Both the US and Democratic Progressive Party authorities have had an increasing sense of urgency. This is determined jointly by the mainland's strength and will. 

China is a nuclear power. US Strategic Command chief Charles Richard described our nuclear deterrence capabilities as "breathtaking." The absolute military advantage that the mainland has formed over Taiwan is sufficient to enable the former to take over the latter in one strike. If the US military participates in the war, it will be severely hit by the People's Liberation Army and suffer unbearable losses. As China's economic scale continues to approach that of the US, the so-called US sanctions have been unable to deter China. Resolving the Taiwan question through military means has become an increasingly realistic option. 

As long as the mainland can realize its sustainable development and national unity in the game with the US and Taiwan island, it will prove the two's miscalculations. As the game cannot change the fundamental process of the mainland's rise, it will only make it easier and less costly for the mainland to realize reunification by force, thus strengthening the mainland's resolve. The whole process will make the US and Taiwan island desperate. 

The US wants to strengthen Taiwan island's self-defense capabilities and increase its confidence in resisting the PLA through training the island's military forces. It's only wishful thinking. The US military had fully equipped and trained the Afghan government forces, but the army they built couldn't withstand even a single blow. The example of the Vietnam War also proves that US equipment and training have never been able to bolster the army's will to fight. 

The secessionist authority in Taiwan overestimated itself, claiming to act as an outpost of the US to contain the mainland. But once the PLA launches a general offensive against the authorities on the other side of the Taiwan Straits, or even it issues an ultimatum before launching the attack, the world will see how weak and coward the Taiwan secessionists are.