US, Taiwan Illustration: Xia Qing/GT

Five US lawmakers paid a sudden visit to the island of Taiwan on Thursday night. After visiting Japan and South Korea, they flew to Taiwan on a US military C-40C executive aircraft. They will stay in Taiwan for two days, meet with Taiwan's so-called "ministry of national defense" as well as Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen.

This is the second US delegation to visit the island in a month. US Republican representative Nancy Mace's performance was especially rampant. After arriving in Taiwan, she posted a pinned tweet declaring that she "just touched down in the Republic of Taiwan." She also added the "flag emojis" of US national flag and "Taiwan flag."

Even Tsai and her likes dare not use the words "Republic of Taiwan." Only some ordinary "Taiwan secessionists" put fake cover of the "Republic of Taiwan" on their passports which is always torn off by other countries' customs officers on the spot. These US lawmakers' reckless act of visiting Taiwan has vented their hostility toward China. They have no ability to essentially affect the trend of situation in the Taiwan Straits. What they are really committed to is to strengthen their self-exposure and ride on the wave of the Taiwan question. They want to gain popularity and sense of presence in the public opinion field. Inciting opposition and gaining attention are the lifeline of their political careers.

US Democratic representative Elissa Slotkin who joined the visit deliberately said on Twitter that their visit was opposed by the Chinese Embassy in the US. This is also an important way for them to attract more attention. Showing the Chinese embassy's disapproval and warning has become a common Western tactic to play up their anti-China acts.

Lawmakers are "professionals" in expressing "public opinion" and taking advantage of "freedom of speech" in the Western world. They do not have to take actual responsibility for state governance and foreign relations. Many of them have become the most radical destructive force in relations between their countries and China. There will definitely be more and more of their anti-China performances. When it comes to China's relations with Western countries, China must shift most of its attention away from them in the future.

We should be clear that those Western countries' relations with China and their policies on the Taiwan Straits must match China's strength and our will. If these lawmakers' performance is too aggressive and threatens their national interests, these countries will balance these elements their own way. Those anti-China lawmakers cannot become the dominant force in the Western world's Taiwan Straits policy.

Indeed, the strength of Chinese mainland is obvious. Our military aircraft are combat ready and only a few minutes' flight distance from the main island of Taiwan. A large number of our missiles are aiming at all major military targets in Taiwan. The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) is prepared to attack external military forces that try to interfere in the situation of the Taiwan Straits. China's manufacturing output is the sum of the US, Japan, Germany and South Korea. No one can really sanction us. China's nuclear forces have formed a strong deterrence of secondary nuclear strikes. No one dares to fight us over the Taiwan question.

All this created an insurmountable barrier for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority and its external supporters to scale. There is not much room for the DPP authority to act rampantly and there are few tricks the outside forces can play on the Taiwan question. This fundamental reality has been clearly revealed to the world.

The essence of US lawmakers visiting Taiwan is their special way of venting loss and mouthing off about the matter which only exposes their stubbornness and arrogance. It shows they are provoking on the edge of the dead circle drawn by the Chinese authorities, but they dare not really hit it. That congresswoman said "Republic of Taiwan," which is enough to show how many unscrupulous elements exist in US politics. If China is entangled with those elements, we will definitely be exhausted. The vast majority of China's attention must be focused on the strength building that determines the final outcome of the Taiwan question, and on the actual preparations for advancing military struggles.

After the US and Taiwan have accumulated their salami-slicing tricks, the Chinese mainland must come up with a more severe military action in response. Our military aircraft have conducted regular round-Taiwan-island patrol and crossed the so-called "middle line" of the Taiwan Straits. Next, our fighter jets must move closer to the island of Taiwan until flying over the island. Such a progressive deterrence will make the DPP authority clearly understand the actual costs they will face in seeking secessionism. It will also make the US know that the risks it faces will continue to rise.

As long as "Taiwan secessionists" move forward, there may be escalated punishments such as Taiwan's outlying islands are liberated by the mainland, and Taiwan's main island becomes the international aviation no-fly zone. As long as the DPP authority is not afraid and the US is willing to bear the consequences of its actions, the Chinese mainland will not reject any escalation of the situation across the Taiwan Straits, no matter how serious. It seems US lawmakers are not afraid of the situation escalating and fanning the flames. We ask the DPP authority and the US government to carefully weigh their abilities and courage.