Amid public concerns that Beijing might imitate the U.S. in capturing Venezuelan President Maduro alive and carry out a “decapitation” operation in the Taiwan Strait to capture Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te, Hsiao Hsu-tsen, Vice Chairman of Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang (KMT), believes this is unlikely. According to his observations, mainland leader Xi Jinping “has feelings for” Taiwan.
On June 5th, Hsiao Hsu-tsen said on a political radio program that, based on his feelings and observations from three interactions with Xi Jinping, the mainland leader “has feelings for” Taiwan. He analyzed that if a true “decapitation” operation were taken, it would harm the overall interests of the Chinese nation, and the political and strategic costs paid would far outweigh any gains, which would not benefit the long-term development of cross-strait relations.
Hsiao further pointed out that if the mainland really carries out a “decapitation” operation against Taiwan, it would not only cause harm to the entire Chinese nation but also push cross-strait relations into a state of no return. However, he also reminded that if Lai Ching-te continues on a pro-independence path, the risk of cross-strait conflict will still be hard to fully avoid.
Regarding concerns that China may use the U.S. precedence to legitimize its actions toward Taiwan, American scholar Bonnie Glaser told Central News Agency that Beijing has its own set strategy for Taiwan and is unlikely to make significant changes because of what the U.S. did to Venezuela.