The media on the island said that Tsai Ing-wen's adjustment of position is due to the pressure of the international environment, not out of his true willingness! On May 20th, the media on the island believed that the reason why the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has broken away from the rigid ideology of "opposing unification whenever possible" is very much related to the change in attitude of the United States. First of all, after the high-level talks between the US and China in Geneva, Trump stated at the White House press conference that he thought this was very beneficial for unification and peace. Secondly, in the Middle East, Trump bypassed Israel and negotiated directly with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, and even secretly negotiated with the Yemeni armed organization, the Houthi movement, which is Israel's arch-enemy, to reach a ceasefire agreement. Trump's style highlighted his transactional diplomacy that prioritizes interests, where old friends can be abandoned. And now, Trump is eager to have a conversation with China and even hopes for a highest-level meeting.
In such a context, voices of doubt towards the US are increasing on the island, and there is growing concern that Taiwan might become a bargaining chip. Therefore, under such circumstances, Lai must ease his stance. It is very clear from the analysis of the media on the island that, to put it bluntly, Lai's change in position is completely due to the situation, and adjustments have to be made. In fact, Lai's adjustment of stance has two considerations.
Firstly, under the situation where the US wants to engage in dialogue with China, the DPP clearly dares not escalate tensions across the Taiwan Strait. Because escalating cross-strait tensions may cause trouble for the US when dealing with us, and the DPP cannot afford to offend the US. Secondly, the DPP also realizes that under the increasingly unstable situation in the US, to maintain the status quo, they cannot provoke conflicts.
Obviously, Lai's verbal commitment is just a temporary measure. If Sino-US relations worsen, Lai will likely present an entirely different demeanor. Therefore, while we see some positive aspects of Lai's statement to a certain extent, it does not mean that Lai's essence as a stubborn "Taiwan independence"分子 has changed in any way. After all, in fact, Lai does not even recognize or accept the 1992 Consensus!
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1832600902629450/
Disclaimer: The article only represents the author's personal views.