A Taipei forum pushed back on the idea that Taiwan can oppose the Communist Party without opposing China itself, a hardening stance that points toward less room for dialogue across the strait.

• Former defense academy official Yu Tsung-chi said Beijing's new laws have tightened internal control so far that splitting Chinese nationalism from the Party is no longer realistic.
• The argument: laws on national unity and defense education have put the country close to a whole-population war footing.
• Veteran commentator Chin Heng-wei said China has never had a single day of democracy, and that toppling Xi or the Party would not change that.
• Rights advocate Lee Ming-che warned that a democratic China would not automatically make Taiwan safer — voters there could even back an invasion.
• The practical takeaway pushed at the forum: stop waiting for change inside China and build up Taiwan's own military strength instead.

Outlook: Expect Taiwanese hawks to keep shifting from "oppose the Party, not the country" toward treating Beijing as a single adversary, with more pressure for defense spending.