Taipei's bet on external backers for independence push doomed to lose

Contrary to the claims of Washington and Taipei, it is not the Chinese mainland that is responsible for the current tense situation in the Taiwan Straits. It is the island's leader Tsai Ing-wen and her pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, with the collusion of the anti-Beijing hawks in Washington, that are jeopardizing peace and stability in the region with their aggressive posturing.

This was evident in the "National Day" speech Tsai made on Monday, in which she pledged to bolster the island's combat power, saying that Taiwan is increasing mass production of precision missiles and high-performance naval vessels, and working to acquire small, highly mobile weapons that will ensure Taiwan is able to respond to "external military threats".

The false narrative she is trying to sell — that it is the "intimidation" of the mainland that is responsible for stoking cross-Straits tensions — will find few buyers when it is so patently obvious that her administration and the Joe Biden administration are scratching each other's back.