In a move reflective of his attempt to continue to rely on external forces to seek "Taiwan independence", Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te told a US radio show in an interview this week that the US president would deserve the Nobel Peace Prize should he be able to convince the Chinese mainland to abandon the use of force as it pursues national reunification.

To leverage possible US military intervention should a conflict break out across the Taiwan Strait, Lai also shamelessly claimed that the reunification of Taiwan with the motherland would mean "China will gain greater strength to compete with the United States on the international stage", which, in his words, "will also impact US homeland interests".

While Lai no doubt intended his provocative remarks to draw some media attention, he has ignored the fact that the one-China principle is a universally recognized norm of international relations, and a consensus accepted by the international community. He is delusional if he thinks he and his fellow secessionists on the island will be able to realize their scheme without receiving any due punishment.

Lai's words and deeds only serve to prove that his Democratic Progressive Party authorities are ramping up their efforts to seek external support for their secessionist scheme. By trying to bind the people on the island to the "Taiwan independence" chariot, Lai and his clique of separatists pose the real threat to Taiwan residents.

It is the Chinese government's consistent and sincere stance to make every effort to achieve reunification through peaceful means, because this serves the fundamental interests of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Yet it never commits to renouncing the use of force against secessionists on the island. The Anti-Secession Law, adopted in March 2005, stipulates that in the event that the "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces should act under any name or by any means to cause the fact of Taiwan's secession from China, or that major incidents entailing Taiwan's secession from China should occur, or that possibilities for a peaceful reunification should be completely exhausted, the State shall employ non-peaceful means and other necessary measures to protect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

This is nonnegotiable.

The actions of the DPP authorities on the island have seriously harmed the vital interests of Taiwan's enterprises and its people. In their pursuit of their secessionist goal they have not hesitated to bury Taiwan's economic lifeline and development prospects by selling and destroying the island's assets.

What the secessionists on the island have been doing in recent years has increasingly threatened the prospects of peaceful reunification. In particular, since taking office last year, Lai has stubbornly maintained a separatist stance. Seeking to deceive the residents of the Chinese island and international public opinion, he has labeled the mainland an "external hostile force". He has also intensified efforts to obstruct and limit cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation. This has exposed his intention to be the true saboteur of cross-Strait peace and the real troublemaker. What Lai and his accomplices have been doing leaves the Chinese mainland with no choice but to be prepared to take decisive action should they dare to cross the red line.

Achieving national reunification is a clear objective and a legitimate right of the Chinese nation. The Taiwan question brooks no external interference. The central government has made it clear that any bid for "independence" will be met with force and crushed. The People's Liberation Army is fully prepared to respond. The PLA is also capable of thwarting any foreign military adventurism that supports secessionist moves in defiance of international law. Anyone trying to oppose the historical trend of China's national reunification is pursuing a lost cause as it is doomed to fail.

As Chen Binhua, spokesman of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said on Wednesday, in answer to a reporter's question on Lai's remarks, any act that relies on external forces will be humiliated, all sinners who betray the nation will be judged justly, and any plot to split the motherland will be resolutely countered.

As Chen said, Lai and his secessionist-minded followers are just ants trying to shake a tree, and they will eventually be swept into the garbage heap of history. Taiwan's reunification with the motherland is inevitable and will prevail, no matter who tries to prevent it.