Warplanes of the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) conduct operations during joint combat training exercises around the Taiwan Island, Aug. 7, 2022. The Eastern Theater Command continued its joint combat training exercises as scheduled on Sunday in the waters and airspace around the Taiwan Island. Photo: Xinhua

Several US lawmakers made a visit to the island of Taiwan via US military aircraft on Sunday. This is new provocation. On the same day, it's revealed by the Taiwan side that China's PLA sent 22 military aircraft and six warships for combat readiness security patrols in the Taiwan Straits and some of them crossed the so-called median line, which the mainland doesn't recognize. 

Washington has repeatedly said that their "one-China" policy has not changed, however the frequency of US lawmakers and officials visiting Taiwan is increasing crazily, sending a message of support to "Taiwan independence" and policy of confronting the mainland. This is producing a significantly different feeling in the Taiwan Straits from what the US is claiming. The Taiwan authorities believe that Washington is shielding their radical policy and that they can move toward independence as they and Washington are using each other. From the mainland's perspective, the Taiwan question is raising our diplomatic cost and our determination to take action with a short-term pain rather than tolerating a long-term pain is also rising. 

In my opinion, China must carry out game with the US based on our own pace. The Chinese mainland recently launched large-scale military drills encircling the Taiwan island to demonstrate our strong will to oppose Taiwan independence and promote reunification, setting a historic precedence of making a blockade of the Taiwan island, and simulating the combat tactic cooperation of liberating Taiwan. On the whole, what the US pursued is not substantive, while the mainland is moving step by step toward consolidating sovereignty over Taiwan. 

From a historical perspective, today's Taiwan resembles Peking (now Beijing) in early 1949 where the final craziness was staged. In January 1949, the PLA encircled Peking, which was then occupied by the KMT forces, and eventually forced the KMT commanders to surrender so the liberation of the city was peaceful.

This conclusion is not exaggerated at all. It can be expected that for some time in the future, there will be more US and Western lawmakers visiting Taiwan in groups to instigate "Taiwan Independence" forces and exploit the opportunity to stage a show themselves and boost their sense of existence. 

The Chinese mainland needs to closely follow and observe the situation and assess their destruction. At the same time, we should not be disrupted by their specific provocative show. We should stick to our own route and rhythm, and if needed, we can use countermeasures against US-Taiwan provocation to promote our reunification strategy, firmly holding the general trend of the situation in our hands. In this process, the Chinese people must fully trust the country's ability to cope with various situations and believe that the time and trend are both on the side of the Chinese mainland. 

The author is a commentator with the Global Times. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn