Clinging to Fiction Too Long

Sometimes it happens that people knowingly create a fiction in order to hide some skeleton in their closet, or to protect someone's feelings. "Mommy and Daddy might get back together again," separated parents might tell their young children, knowing full well it's not true. But such fictions are generally ill-advised and not durable. So what's up with China threatening a military response to "protect its territorial integrity" should Taiwan seek independence? I am aware of China's tenet that Taiwan is somehow a "temporarily independent" renegade province to be eventually reunified with the mainland. But they have clung to this fiction for over 50 years now, and to continue to cling to it is beyond obdurate. It is delusional. They have insisted that the rest of the world humor them in their delusion, as embarassingly exhibited in their desultory behavior precluding Taiwan's national participation in everything from the Olympic games to the United Nations. Enough is enough. Time for China to wake up and smell the tea.