Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was belittled by Beijing during his trip to China, as he was only able to meet China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Director Song Tao (宋濤) and was not greeted by higher- ranking Chinese officials during his visit, which has harmed Taiwan, academics said on Friday.
Ma said the trip was to pay his respects to his ancestors and to accompany 28 Taiwanese university students for exchanges with students in China, but they only met with 35 students at Wuhan University, 32 students at Hunan University and 30 students at Fudan University.
The Chinese government could easily mobilize thousands of students to attend Ma’s exchange sessions if it wanted, but there were only about 30 students in each session, Cross-Strait Policy Association researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said, adding that it seems that Ma was used as Beijing’s tool to counter President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) visit to Central America and stopovers in the US.
Photo: Ann Wang, REUTERS
Before Ma left for China, there were rumors that Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang (丁薛祥) would welcome Ma at the airport, and some had guessed that he would be greeted by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo Standing Committee member Wang Huning (王滬寧), who met Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言) in Beijing in February, Cross-Strait Policy Association secretary-general Wang Zhin-sheng (王智盛) said.
However, Ma was not greeted by either of them, and only met with Song in Wuhan on short notice, Wang Zhin-sheng said.
Ma “went for the sake of going,” regardless of which members of the Chinese government arranged to meet with him, and he disguised his dream of saying he is Chinese by pretending it was a trip to pay respects to his ancestors along with student interactions, he said.
Ma cooperated with the Chinese government in praising Wuhan’s COVID-19 response, but Beijing still does not view him as a former president or former KMT chairman, but used him as part of its “united front” tactics for political gain, Wang Zhin-sheng said.
Ma is willing to be a “chess piece” of China, to put pressure on Taiwan, belittle its nation status and harm it, Wu said, adding that he must face criticism from Taiwanese, as they have seen how a politician and a former president can be so selfish for his own political gain.
Ma and the KMT are pleased with his trip, claiming that he elaborated on the so-called “1992 consensus,” with “each side [of the Taiwan Strait] having its own interpretation on ‘one China,’” yet although the Chinese government did not refute it in his face, it does not mean it accepts it, Wang said.
The definition and interpretation of the so-called “1992 consensus” are still in the hands of China, so Ma’s trip did not revive the “1992 consensus,” he said, adding that it is merely “terminal lucidity” as it goes into history.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS