Fiery puppetry. Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

On Wednesday, US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy met Taiwan regional leader Tsai Ing-wen for talks during her "transit" in California. McCarthy said that "the friendship between America and the people of Taiwan has never been stronger." 

The "friendship" between the US and Taiwan island is essentially relations between US politicians and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities based on need to take advantage of each other. Such a friendship can scarcely be said to bring any tangible value to the Taiwan residents. The attitude of Taiwan authorities in following the US has merely led to more concessions, which is in fact a damage to the island's interests. 

This "friendship" is more like a disservice to the people on the Taiwan island. Taiwan-based chip manufacturer TSMC and US arms sales to Taiwan are examples. The US, under the acquiescence of the DPP authorities, has managed to "hollow out Taiwan" by turning TSMC into "USMC." Similarly, the US has made a bundle by selling substandard weapons to Taiwan with full price, turning Taiwan into a cash machine for the US military industrial complex.

Therefore, the so-called friendship between the US and Taiwan island can't change Taiwan's role as the cheapest pawn for the US. The "theory of abandoning Taiwan" and "theory of destroying Taiwan" in recent years all reflect the US' attitude of exploitation, damage or even destruction toward Taiwan. The words and deeds of US politicians regarding Taiwan have also demonstrated the real harms to the island of Taiwan and its residents.

In her meeting with McCarthy, Tsai reiterated Taiwan's commitment to defending the peaceful status quo. The peace and stability of the Taiwan Straits are in the common interest of people on both sides of the Straits. Unfortunately, Tsai has only made empty promises to maintain the peaceful status quo as a tactic for governance, whose intention is to appease the growing dissatisfaction among the people on the island with her pro-US policy. Tsai knows that cross-Straits peace is certainly maintained by both sides of the Taiwan Straits and based on the 1992 Consensus, but she only mentioned peace in the talk without any word referring to the 1992 Consensus or the demands of both sides across the Straits. Instead, she highlighted Taiwan-US relations, which is obviously out of her own political interest.

The widely spreading skepticism of the US in the Taiwan island is a demonstration of the awakening and anxiety among people on the island. The DPP authorities should not have the illusion that lies become the truth when they are told 100 times. The Taiwan residents have their own judgment and observations. 

For one thing, the US has been selling weapons to Taiwan, forcing Taiwan to concede its interests. For another, the DPP authorities have completely ignored the facts and followed the US blindly. What the people have seen is not that the US is going to protect Taiwan for the sake of Taiwan's interests, but that it is trying to make Taiwan a huge powder keg and keep hollowing out Taiwan companies like TSMC. It is with these facts before their eyes that the people on the Taiwan island have gradually formed their own judgment and determination.

In the face of global tensions and the challenges posed by the US and its Western allies, the Chinese mainland has upheld its strategy related to the Taiwan question, and stressed its efforts for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and the utmost effort. Nevertheless, the current Taiwan regional leader chooses to be a lackey of the US and fully cooperate with the US' strategy of "containing China with the Taiwan card," provoking conflicts in the Taiwan Straits and placing the island in jeopardy. 

The people on the island have been extremely disillusioned with the DPP's lopsided policy toward the US. Tsai's visit to the US under the pretext of "transit" has dragged the Taiwan Straits to a dangerous edge on the whole. This time, the meeting between McCarthy and Tsai in the violation of the one-China principle will inevitably inflame confrontation with the mainland, which could give rise to a new round of crisis in the Taiwan Straits and cause immense harm to cross-Straits relations. 

As long as the DPP authorities, who seek "independence" by relying on US support, are still in power, the peaceful and prosperous life will only be more and more impossible for the people on the island. 

The author is a research fellow at the Institute for Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Studies of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn