Two Su-35 fighter jets and an 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.(Photo: Xinhua)

Tsai Ing-wen Photo:AFP

In a recent interview with CNN published on Thursday, Taiwan's regional leader Tsai Ing-wen confirmed for the first time that US troops are present on the island for "training purposes." Experts said that this provocative announcement is for Taiwan secessionists to show off that they have got "protection" from the US, but in fact, there is no chance for them to escape punishment. 

When the determination of 1.4 billion Chinese people and the strength of the Chinese mainland are taken into consideration, there is no chance for the "US military presence on the island" to change the resolution of the Taiwan question — the doomsday for Taiwan secessionists and the reunification of China, said mainland analysts. And in the short term, it's possible that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) will take more actions around the island and even launch live-fire drills, while more Taiwan secessionist politicians will be blacklisted and sanctioned.

Tsai is the first Taiwan regional leader to acknowledge the presence of US troops on the island. Tsai said in the interview with CNN that they are there for "training purposes." She did not disclose the exact number of US military personnel currently on the island but said it was "not as many as people thought," and "we have a wide range of cooperation with the US aiming at increasing our defense capability."

Since 2020, it has occurred several times that words come from different sources that the US has military presence on the island of Taiwan, but this is the first time it was confirmed by Tsai.

Tsai and secessionist politicians of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority and other political forces will eventually pay for their crimes and sins, including separating the island from the country, betraying the Chinese nation to serve the interests of foreign forces and even allowing foreign military troops to set foot on the island, spreading hatred against the Chinese mainland among Taiwan residents, as well as suppressing pro-reunification figures in Taiwan.

Although the redline drawn by the Chinese mainland has been challenged, and the mainland will surely take retaliatory actions, it doesn't mean the doomsday for the Taiwan secessionists will come immediately, said experts. They remarked that the mainland will solve the Taiwan question based on its own plan, and the secessionists on the island will pay the price sooner or later. 

Warnings sent

With regard to the US military presence on the island, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press conference on Thursday that "we firmly oppose the US having any form of official interaction and military connection with the island, and oppose US interference in China's internal affairs."

Wang noted that the provocative US moves in recent years have sent extremely wrong signals to Taiwan secessionist forces and have threatened the peace and stability of the region. 

"Seeking Taiwan secessionism is a dead end; supporting Taiwan secessionism is a road of no return," Wang said, warning that no country or person should underestimate the determination, will and power of the Chinese people in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity, "otherwise they will face failure again."  

Tan Kefei, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, said on Thursday at a monthly press conference that the national reunification of China is the trend of history, and it's a mission of justice. The PLA is keeping on high alert and making sure that when the call from the Party and the people comes, the PLA can fight and win anytime. 

Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of State Council, said on Thursday that Tsai and the DPP authority are stubbornly pushing forward "Taiwan independence" and spreading secessionist remarks on the global stage, using the so-called democracy and freedom to disguise their ill-intentioned attempts to deceive public opinion, and Tsai's interview with CNN exposed such an attempt.

"We understand that local residents in the island hope to join in international activities, and on the basis of the one-China principle, we have made appropriate arrangements for this hope in the past, and this could happen again in the future," but "there is zero possibility for secessionists in the island to use the so-called 'participation in global events' to seek secessionism," the spokesperson said.

Tsai is playing with fire, as admitting US military presence in Taiwan is no different to stepping on the redline of the one-China principle and violating the Anti-Secession Law, Chiu Yi, a former "lawmaker" in Taiwan and a Taiwan-based pro-reunification scholar, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Tsai is risking destruction on herself because she wanted to highlight Taiwan's tie with the US to save her falling support, get US President Joe Biden's help and attempt to suppress Kuomintang chairman Chu Li-luan, Chiu said.

Tang Yonghong, deputy director of Taiwan Research Center at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Thursday that Tsai wants to appease pro-secessionist people in Taiwan with the idea of "US protection," encourage secessionist forces and deliver a signal to the international community that the US is supporting Taiwan "as a country" and "considering Taiwan a partner of the US-led alliance against mainland [of] China" at a time when the US is playing the "Taiwan card" in the strategic competition with the Chinese mainland.

In addition to condemning the revelation, the Chinese mainland should take real actions to make the US and Taiwan secessionists pay the price, Tang said.

Yuan Zheng, deputy director of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said more military actions are likely in the Taiwan Straits, and the US military presence in the region will face more countermeasures from the PLA.

If the US and the Taiwan authority continue to escalate tensions, it's likely to see massive live-fire drills, similar to those that took place during the Taiwan Straits crisis in 1995-96, some analysts predicted.  

Punishment will come eventually 

The DPP authority and the US are being increasingly provocative at the moment, and they know the Chinese mainland will and must take actions to respond, so they want to use this to interrupt the mainland's development, said a Beijing-based senior expert on Taiwan affairs who asked not to be named. 

"Because they, especially the US, know that if they don't use the 'Taiwan card' to make trouble now to interrupt China's development, and when China has more overwhelming military advantage in the future, they would have no chance to make provocations," he noted. 

"At this moment, China just needs to focus on its own development and solve all other urgent problems, not be misguided, and mark all the crimes that those secessionists committed now and in the past," the expert said. "When the time comes, we will let them pay for everything they've done."

Just on Wednesday, three PLA warplanes - two J-11 fighter jets and a Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft, entered Taiwan's self-proclaimed southwest air defense identification zone, the island's defense authorities said on the same day.

One day earlier, transport and attack helicopters of the PLA were spotted for the first time conducting training in the same area, which experts said displayed the PLA's grasp of the region.

Helicopters can become active on the battlefield only when the PLA has gained aerial superiority, and the combination of transport and attack helicopters means they could be on an amphibious assault mission aimed at landing on the island, Chinese mainland military analysts said.

A US military aircraft C-17 landed on the island in June. A source familiar with the matter told the Global Times that the aircraft was there to practice an evacuation of the American Institute in Taiwan.

Some experts said the US is preparing for another failure and getting ready to abandon its proxies again, but the secessionists on the island still believe they are under protection, which is truly pathetic and hilarious.