Observer: Playing Taiwan card only ends up with nothing
By Xu Zheqi
People's Daily app
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Last month, Alex Azar, Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, visited China's Taiwan. Just a month later, Keith Krach, another US senior official, is scheduled to visit the island this Saturday. 

Such a move of the US severely contravened its own commitments on the Taiwan question.

For China-US relations, the Taiwan question is one of the most important, with the highest level of sensitivity, and the one-China principle is its political foundation. 

China has repeatedly urged the US to adhere to the one-China principle and the three joint communiques, stop having official interactions of any kind with Taiwan, and handle Taiwan-related issues prudently and properly to avoid severely damaging China-US relations, and peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits.

Recent moves by the US, however, have provoked China on the Taiwan question and placed obstacles to China-US relations.

What the US government truly wants is that certain politicians play the Taiwan card as a distraction to shift attention from its domestic problems and appeal to certain groups of voters. After all, the US is mired in the pandemic, racial strife, and economic recession.

After Azar's visit, the Taiwan authority decided to import pork containing ractopamine and open its market to US beef for cattle aged over 30 months, without informing the public or consulting the local industry, and without a review by the legislature or a proper evaluation of its risks.

This has caused resentment on the island. Non-government organizations, legislators, and health experts in Taiwan have continued to challenge this decision.

The separatist Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities in the island of Taiwan should know that besides grabbing financial benefits from Taiwan, Washington will guarantee nothing on security issues, as the island is just a chess piece to confront the mainland. Once the situation turns around, Taiwan authorities will lose miserably.

Anyone with vision and insight is aware that DPP authorities in Taiwan should stop pursuing its misguided course. A dead end will meet them if they choose to act like self-important puppets with strings in foreign hands, and seriously believe that they have a chance at independence.

There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inseparable part of the Chinese territory—the one-China principle is a common consensus of the international community.

On issues involving China's core interests, certain individuals in the US must not have any illusions or imagine they can get away with inappropriate behavior. Those playing with fire will end up burning themselves badly.