No shaking Taiwan from the motherland

Unless done so deliberately, it is impossible to misconstrue the meaning of the remarks by Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, at a news conference on Wednesday: "It is easier to shake mountains than to shake the one-China principle."

For Taiwan regional leader Tsai Ing-wen, Ma's remark expressing the Chinese mainland's resolution to safeguard its territorial integrity and oppose "Taiwan independence", should serve as a clear warning that she should not regard the landslide victory she won in the island's regional leadership elections over the weekend as giving her carte blanche to act on her mistaken belief that the island is an independent country.

Tsai and her Democratic Progressive Party resorted to dirty tricks, including cheating, repression and intimidation to help secure their election victory, and they are deliberately distorting the result as if it truly reflects the opinion on the island.