Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) yesterday clashed with the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation after former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) embarked on a controversial visit to Beijing.
Ma on Monday traveled to China, where he was expected to meet with Chinese officials and business leaders, while leading a group of 20 students across the Taiwan Strait in what he called “a trip of peace and a trip of friendship.”
Shortly after his arrival, Ma met with China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) Director Song Tao (宋濤) in Shenzhen.
Photo: Chen Cheng-yu, Taipei Times
However, Wu said that he was first greeted at the airport by a TAO deputy director.
Taiwan should be insulted by Ma’s acquiescence to being greeted by a TAO deputy director without a red carpet, Wu told a news conference at the legislature.
The interaction represented a downgrade from a 2005 visit to Beijing, when then-vice president Lien Chan (連戰) was greeted by the TAO director, she said.
“In their meeting, Ma told TAO Director Song Tao that blood is thicker than water. We rather hope that Ma would not let China suck our blood dry and then thank them for the privilege,” Wu said.
The former president toured drone maker Dajiang Innovations (DJI), which has been subject to US sanctions for its ties to the Chinese military, she said.
Tencent Holdings Ltd, which Ma also visited, is on the blacklist of many countries, as it is considered a threat to their national security, she said.
“Ma was the best propaganda material Beijing could hope for,” Wu said, adding that the DPP has already given up hope that the former president would not degrade the nation in his self-professed mission of peace.
Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said that DPP lawmakers are contriving reasons to criticize Ma to conceal their “anxiety about the party’s impotence in cross-strait affairs.”
“The DPP has been manipulating national dignity as a political issue in a way that is contrary to the media’s comments since last year to aid the anti-Chinese strategy of certain countries,” Hsiao said, adding that the government “has degraded Taiwan by turning it into a chess piece for a hegemony.”
Taiwan and China have a special historical relationship and being part of an anti-Chinese strategy is not in Taiwan’s interest, he said.
“Tencent and [Chinese electric vehicle maker] BYD are among the world’s top 500 companies, while DJI controls 70 percent of the world’s drone market, so there should be no problem for young Taiwanese to visit them,” she said.
The foundation urges the DPP to refrain from hindering the efforts of young Taiwanese to promote peace and broaden their vision, Hsiao said.
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