Photo: Courtesy of the Labor Party of Taiwan

More than 50 political parties in the island of Taiwan staged a protest outside Taoyuan Airport in Taipei on Friday against regional leader Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

The Friday activity, themed "Anti-Taiwan independence, anti-interference" started around 7:30 pm and lasted for more than an hour. More than 200 people from over 50 political parties - including the Labor Party of Taiwan, the Reunification Alliance Party, the Chinese Unification Promotion Party, and the New Party - gathered outside the airport, calling for reunification and waving banners with slogans such as "Tsai-McCarthy selling Taiwan" and "We want no war, but peace."

The protest aimed to let the world know that people in the island oppose the collusion between Tsai and US politicians and oppose the violation of the one-China principle, Wu Jung-yuan, chairman of the Labor Party, who also attended the Friday protest, told the Global Times.

The civil groups want to strike a head-on blow to Tsai and make their call for cross-Straits peace heard by the world, said Wu.

Tsai on Wednesday ended her 10-day trip to Central American countries Guatemala and Belize, during which she had a stopover in New York and Los Angeles in the US and met with McCarthy.

In response to the latest provocation, China on Friday imposed a package of sanctions on a diehard "Taiwan independence" separatist and two Taiwan organizations, as well as the US Hudson Institute, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and four US individuals.

Tsai's meeting with McCarthy has furthered strained cross-Straits relations and many people in the island have expressed opposition to Tsai and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) seeking "Taiwan independence" with US politicians. They also said Tsai was betraying people in the island and risking their lives and security to play the role of a chess piece in a US proxy war.

Wu said that the one-China principle and recognizing that Taiwan is part of China is the norm for the international community. Tsai's visit to the US under the excuse of "transit" was an attempt to internationalize the Taiwan question, which is doomed to fail.

Peaceful development and reunification are the mainstream aims. The collusion of US politicians and forces that seek "Taiwan independence" should be opposed, said Wu. "We will not allow the island to become a US chess piece."

China will and must realize the reunification, Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said on Friday, warning the DPP authorities that the mainland will leave no room for any activities that seek "Taiwan independence."

China will take firm measures in defeating any external interference and activities that seek separation. The US should stick to the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques and prudently deal with the Taiwan question, said Zhu.