BEIJING -- Lai Ching-te, a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) politician, recently claimed that his political goal is to "walk into the White House." It was a dangerous statement for a candidate to run in the Taiwan leadership election next January.

Over the past 40 years, no leader of Taiwan has ever been allowed by the US government to set foot in Washington, let alone the White House, regardless of which political party ruled the United States and how their China policies changed.

In December 1978, when China and the United States issued the Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations, the US government acknowledged the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China. It also recognized the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China. Within this context, the people of the United States maintain cultural, commercial, and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan.

Since Lai took "being in the White House" as his political agenda, it is a reasonable presumption that once in office, he would seize every opportunity to push de jure independence and take risks to challenge the one-China principle and the one-China policy that Washington has long adopted. Thus the Taiwan Strait will likely slip into the abyss of military confrontation.

Lai has never avoided mentioning his stance supporting "Taiwan independence." When serving as the chief of Taiwan's executive body, he had openly called himself "a pragmatic worker" for "Taiwan independence."

However, his hardline separatist tone suddenly softened when the campaign for next year's Taiwan leadership election unfurled this year, and "Taiwan independence" turned out to be bad for the election.

He has put up the face of a supporter for peace, dialogue, and the status quo, attempting to dispel people's doubts and worries about his uncontrollable character and separatist agenda.

The problem is that one's true colors cannot be hidden for long. In a recent campaign event, being with his loyal supporters, he probably let his guard down, and the public heard his true ambition.

Having an illusion of being secessionist-minded "the president of the republic of Taiwan," Lai could be more impulsive than Chen Shui-bian and more radical than Tsai Ing-wen.

When the cross-Strait relations stand at the crossroads between peace and war, prosperity and recession, the people of Taiwan are beginning to feel the weight of their decisions.