Tsai stranded on wrong side of history: China Daily editorial

It remains unknown how discomfited the Tsai Ing-wen administration felt the moment it learned of the latest basket of measures the Chinese mainland has unveiled to further economic and cultural exchanges across the Straits. However, while it is predictable that Tsai and her colleagues will heap scorn on the new measures, the warm response Wang Yang, head of the mainland's top political advisory body, received from Taiwan entrepreneurs when he announced the measures speaks volumes about the measures' pertinence.

Speaking to hundreds of Taiwan entrepreneurs at a cordial face-to-face meeting in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, on Monday, he unveiled 26 measures that encompass not only trade and investment, but also culture and sports.

This is the second batch of Taiwan measures Beijing has rolled out, after a package of 31 measures was announced in February last year. Although Tsai called those nothing but "bait" to lure Taiwan people to support reunification of the island with the motherland, they have had evident effects.

Cross-Straits trade hit a record $226.2 billion last year, up 13.2 percent year-on-year, and capital from Taiwan was invested in 4,911 projects on the mainland, an increase of 41.8 percent year-on-year. The accumulated effects of the two batches of measures will predictably be even more substantial, and therefore more provocative to Tsai and her like-minded secessionists, because when they are put into place people from almost all walks of life on the island will find it easier to live, work, invest and travel on the mainland.

It is noteworthy that the 26 measures are effective from the moment they are promulgated, which is remarkable for both the efficiency and intensity, as through the new measures Beijing is opening up many so-called sensitive industries, research fields and mainland markets to Taiwan, such as advanced equipment manufacturing, transportation, 5G telecommunications, culture, agriculture and finance, which presents many new opportunities for Taiwan entrepreneurs.

An opening-up of such a scale and depth was almost unimaginable a few years ago, as many of the fields are considered to be of strategic importance to financial, food and cultural security. Granting Taiwan entrepreneurs, investors, researchers and travelers with the same treatment in these key sectors, even including consulate protection around the world, has unequivocally demonstrated Beijing's confidence in its judgment that cross-Straits integration and finally reunification is an irreversible historical trend that will benefit compatriots on both sides of the Straits.

No doubt Tsai and those with a similar predilection for independence will beg to differ. But their isolation from reality means history will simply pass them by.