Machiavellian schemes won't take US anywhere in the Asia-Pacific: China Daily editorial

As expected, Washington couldn't wait to throw itself behind Taiwan island's secessionist-minded leader Lai Ching-te after the latter delivered a "pro-independence" speech on Thursday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken went to the extent of warning Beijing against taking any "provocative" action against the island after Beijing criticized Lai's performance, in which he tried to drive home his central point in a subtle and mild manner: China has no sovereignty over the island.

"China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions," Blinken said at a news conference on the sidelines of an ASEAN meeting in the Laotian capital of Vientiane on Friday, ignoring the fact that his remarks constituted a grave interference in China's internal affairs and violated the one-China principle, the political foundation of Sino-US diplomatic relations.

Although he tried to marshal support of other leaders in Vientiane for his call, saying that "we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any actions that might undermine it", Blinken's grandstanding was met with cold shoulders.

That should serve as a reminder to the top US diplomat that Washington needs to stop playing the "Taiwan card" — and the "South China Sea card" which tries to take advantage of China's maritime disputes with some of its neighbors — to destabilize the situations across the Taiwan Strait and the Asia-Pacific at large to achieve its narrow anti-China goals.

The US has not only intensified its arms sales to Taiwan to try and turn it into a "porcupine", but also pushed its regional proxies, such as the Philippines, to ceaselessly provoke China in the South China Sea while trying to smear it as a bully and troublemaker — the very roles that Washington has been playing.

Worse, the US is trying to pave the way for the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to the Asia-Pacific by using Japan as a facilitator, irrespective of the fact that countries across the world know the ugly role the US has been playing in the Ukraine and the Middle East crises, and are vigilant against the US triggering a similar crisis in the Asia-Pacific.

If the US really cares about "maintaining peace and stability, preserving the status quo of the Taiwan Strait, and avoiding any kind of conflict that could disrupt things that are so essential to the global economy", as Blinken said, it should abandon its Machiavellian schemes regarding the Taiwan question, honor the commitment it has repeatedly made to Beijing on it, and immediately stop supporting Taiwan secessionists.

It should also stop forcing regional countries to choose sides between Washington and Beijing, sowing discord between China and its neighbors.

The fundamental status quo of the Taiwan Strait, as Beijing has been reiterating, is that both sides of the strait belong to one China, while the "status quo" the US tries to maintain is actually a ploy to split China.

The more the US tries to drive a wedge between China and its neighbors, the more Beijing will do to promote regional integration and common development. The crucial breakthroughs China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations achieved in the negotiations on "Version 3.0 China-ASEAN Free Trade Area" in Vientiane last week are a powerful reply to the US' divisive machinations.

As for the Taiwan question, Beijing has every reason and legitimacy to take countermeasures in response to the provocative "pro-independence" show staged by Lai. Any intervention by the US, or any other party, in the process should be deemed as a blatant interference in China's internal affairs and an open support for Taiwan separatists.