Ma Ying-jeou set to lead delegation on PRC visit

Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is to lead a delegation to China next month, his foundation announced yesterday, adding that Ma has not made any arrangements to meet with Chinese officials at this point.

The visit, which would be Ma’s second to China as a civilian, has been arranged amid heightened cross-strait tensions caused by the death of Chinese fishers during a pursuit by a coast guard vessel in waters around Kinmen County.

Foundation executive director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said Beijing invited Ma.

The delegation, which would consist mainly of 20 students participating in the foundation’s leadership program, is to leave for China on Monday next week and return on April 11, he said.

The delegation is to visit tourist attractions and corporations in Beijing, as well as in Guangdong and Shaanxi provinces, Hsiao said.

Aside from attending an annual ceremony at the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor on Tomb Sweeping Day, Ma and the delegates would have academic exchanges with students at Beijing University and Sun Yat-sen University in Guangdong Province, he said.

Asked about the timing of the tour and whether Ma would meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) while in Beijing, Hsiao said that Ma’s visit to China last year occurred at about the same time, adding that the foundation did not have any special consideration about the timing of this year’s visit.

“It has been nine years since the leaders of Taiwan and China met in Singapore. Of course, we hope that old friends could meet, but we respect China’s arrangement in this regard. As guests, we would accept the arrangement and reception that the host has made available for us,” Hsiao said.

Hsiao also reiterated Ma’s belief that exchanges between Taiwanese and Chinese students would help de-escalate cross-strait tensions and lower the possibility for conflict.

Separately yesterday, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office issued a statement welcoming Ma’s planned visit and confirming his itinerary.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤), who also serves as the DPP caucus secretary-general, yesterday said that given the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recent push to have President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) visit Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島), she hoped Ma would use the trip to “declare sovereignty” over the Taiwan-controlled island, which is also claimed by China, Vietnam and the Philippines.

“We respect the decisions of KMT leaders to visit China, but we want to remind them to be cautious about the people they meet and the statements they make. They should not go against mainstream public opinion by helping China suppress Taiwan,” she said.