An aide to former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday teased the possibility of Ma meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during his upcoming trip to China.
Ma is just “a regular citizen,” as he left the presidency eight years ago and does not hold any position in government or politics, Ma Ying-jeou Culture and Education Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said in a radio interview.
However, based on the important history that Ma and Xi made when they met in 2015, the former president “of course hopes there is an opportunity to see an old friend,” Hsiao said.
Photo courtesy of Pop Radio News
Pressed on whether arrangements were being made for such a meeting, Hsiao said only that he “hoped” it would take place.
However, because the delegation would be guests, the exact arrangements are being left up to the Chinese side, he said.
Ma, who was president from 2008 to 2016, held a historic meeting with Xi in Singapore in 2015, marking the first meeting of leaders from the two sides of the Taiwan Strait since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.
Ma also became the first former Taiwanese president to visit China in spring last year, and on Monday, his foundation announced that he is planning to lead another delegation of students to the country from Monday next week to April 11.
The delegation is to tour companies, visit sites of Chinese historical and cultural significance, and hold exchanges with university students in Beijing and Guangdong and Shaanxi provinces, the foundation said.
That this trip, unlike Ma’s previous one, is to include a stop in Beijing has given rise to speculation that a second Ma-Xi meeting could be in the works.
Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said that he “respects” the former president’s right to visit China as a private citizen, but nevertheless hopes that Ma would act in a way that meets the expectations of the Taiwanese public on matters relating to sovereignty, democracy and the rule of law.
Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) told reporters he was not opposed to Ma’s visit, as long as it was conducted on the basis of “dignity and parity.”
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS