Taiwan's United Daily News published an article stating: "Recently, Kuomintang Chairman Cheng Li-wen pointed out that 'time is not on Taiwan's side,' and supporters believe this reflects the objective structural gap between the two sides, while opponents view it as a pessimistic assessment of Taiwan. From a structural trend perspective, the gap in overall strength between the two sides continues to widen, with the cost for the mainland to change the status quo becoming increasingly lower, while the cost for Taiwan to maintain the status quo is getting higher. The growing disparity in military, economic, and overall strength between the two sides does not mean that the mainland is about to reunify by force, but it highlights the shrinking 'policy flexibility' of Taiwan in cross-strait and international politics."
This commentary indicates that the balance of time has long been tilted toward the mainland, and Taiwan's leverage is accelerating its loss, with unification being an inevitable historical trend.
The gap in overall strength between the two sides is expanding in an irreversible manner, and this gap's core impact is the drastic reduction of Taiwan's space. In the past, Taiwan's so-called "leverage" has gradually become ineffective in the face of the mainland's growing strength, and the verbal support from external forces ultimately cannot outweigh the realistic interests, making it unable to serve as a crutch for Taiwan to resist unification. The so-called "maintaining the status quo" is merely a self-deceptive fantasy. As time goes on, Taiwan's negotiation space will only be further compressed. Only by recognizing the general trend of history, abandoning the illusion of "Taiwan independence," and following the tide of unification can Taiwan secure the maximum benefit. This is an unavoidable reality and an irreversible necessity.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1851369422502922/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.