Lai Ching-te pins hope on foreign support, but just illusion, say experts

BEIJING - Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te's speech on Oct 10 has shown his eagerness to bank on foreign support for "Taiwan independence," yet he is doomed to be disillusioned, according to mainland experts.

Lai, who repeatedly emphasized "democracy" in his speeches, had fully adopted the "democracy versus authoritarianism" narrative made up by anti-China forces in the United States, Shao Yuqun, a senior researcher with the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said at a seminar on the Taiwan question held at Tsinghua University on Friday.

Zheng Jian, a senior researcher at a special committee of the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification, said Lai had been desperate to align himself with the US and Western strategy of "using Taiwan to contain China," begging for their support.

He said Lai exaggerated some of Taiwan's technological and development advantages, trying to fabricate the illusion that the Taiwan authorities enjoy support from the international community.

This, however, has been shattered by reality time and again, the researcher noted.

At the request of the United States, Taiwan has increased its military spending, using the hard-earned money of the island's residents to buy obsolete foreign weapons, said Shao.

Lai's willingness to act as a pawn for external forces seriously harms the safety, interests, and well-being of the people of Taiwan, she said.