Figure of history? — No, just figure of fun: China Daily editorial

History is not short of great speeches. Among those by politicians, many have pushed the progress of human society by contributing insight, vision and courage.

But although he apparently intends to leave his mark on history with his 10 "uniting the country" speeches, Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te has only impressed the world with the frivolousness, contradiction and schizophrenia of his oral stunts with his two speeches so far, the second of which he gave on Tuesday.

In his first speech last week, Lai tried to sever the historical connections between the island of Taiwan and its motherland, saying it is a member of the Austronesian family, citing the millennia-long connection of its indigenous people to other Pacific islands.

That argument doesn't hold water and rightly drew widespread criticism. In his second speech, the diehard secessionist called on the residents of the Chinese island to treat the Chinese mainland as their "enemy".

Peddling his "two-state theory" in his Tuesday address, Lai's performance only reinforced the fact that he is hell-bent on taking a stance of complete rupture with the Chinese nation.

By comparing the defense of "democracy" to forging a sword by hammering "impurities", Lai is calling for nothing but the Democratic Progressive Party authorities to strengthen their tough measures to remold the island's society to suit their secessionist cause purging what they call "hostile elements" from the island.

So although Lai pretends to be a "pro-peace", "pro-democracy" leader, both his remarks and the moves of his authorities prove the opposite. He is an unequivocal instigator of cross-Strait conflict and a saboteur of regional peace and stability.

His speeches represent his latest provocation toward the mainland, and a betrayal of the well-being of Taiwan compatriots. It is clear that for the sake of what he views as his personal historical legacy, Lai has cast aside Taiwan residents' yearning for peace, the Chinese nation's peaceful vision, and regional hopes for stability, gambling Taiwan's future on leveraging foreign backing to pursue "independence".

Lai has obviously taken into account the international situation while planning his series of speeches as he is trying to remind his foreign patrons that while some burning issues in other parts of the world are capturing their attention, the island should not be forgotten as a useful piece on their geopolitical chessboard in the Asia-Pacific.

Although it's the crying baby that gets the milk, that Lai requires 10 speeches to gain his foreign patrons' attention only serves to expose his lack of confidence in the value of his DPP authorities to foreign forces, as well as the hollowness of his secessionist theory. The more efforts he makes to establish his theory, the more the fallacy of his position is exposed.

As Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said on Wednesday, Lai's latest speech only repeated the old rhetoric of "Taiwan independence", deliberately distorted history, attempted to sow hatred and dissatisfaction and exacerbated divisions in Taiwan society.

As Zhu remarked, Lai wantonly smeared exchanges and cooperation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, slandered people's expectations for peace and stability and the mainland's goodwill as "infiltration threats", which goes against the will of the people.

Both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one China. Only by promoting peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and working together for complete national reunification can peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait be preserved.

As Zhu urged, Taiwan residents should see through Lai's hypocrisy and deception, and unite in opposing the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, thereby pursuing the glorious cause of national rejuvenation.