Ma Ying-jeou’s mainland China trip shows he’s Beijing’s best hope to win Taiwanese hearts and minds

“I additionally hope that the younger individuals of Taiwan can put aside ideological variations and recognise the historic and cultural connections between Taiwan and the mainland, which can’t be severed by politics.”

Analysts consider Ma’s journey might assist Beijing amply its message that it’s nonetheless searching for peaceable reunification with Taiwan, regardless of souring tensions which have unnerved regional powers and the West.

In addition they stated the go to sends a well-timed message to Taiwanese president-elect William Lai Ching-te of the independence-leaning DPP. Beijing-sceptic Lai might be inaugurated subsequent month, taking up from Tsai Ing-wen, additionally of the DPP.

“These appeals are important to the peaceable cross-strait reunification desired by Xi Jinping,” stated Max Lo, govt director of Taiwan Worldwide Strategic Examine Society, a Taipei suppose tank.

“Such appeals additionally make [Ma] the only option for the mainland to ask for a go to, although he not holds any authorities or political celebration workplace and is a non-public citizen,” Lo stated.

No pressure can separate us, Xi Jinping tells Taiwan’s Ma in historic Beijing talks

James Yifan Chen, a professor of diplomacy and worldwide relations at Tamkang College in New Taipei, stated Xi wished to “exhibit his capabilities in managing cross-strait relations by inviting Ma to Beijing and providing him leader-like protocol in recognition of the shared legacies throughout their overlapping tenures”.

Ma met Xi for the primary time in Singapore in 2015 – a yr earlier than he ended his second time period as Taiwan’s president.

Chen stated the therapy Ma acquired on the newest journey was a “typical method” Beijing used to indicate appreciation for “outdated buddies”.

He added that Ma nonetheless had loyal supporters in Taiwan, and his “three noes” coverage – no unification, no independence and no use of pressure – represented the “established order throughout his presidency and has remained the mainstream opinion” till at this time.

Zhu Songling, a Taiwan affairs specialist at Beijing Union College, stated though Ma was not on the political entrance traces and his affect had declined, he was nonetheless thought-about the chief of Taiwan’s pro-unification camp.

In the course of the run-up to Taiwan’s presidential election in January, Ma led efforts to forge a joint ticket between the KMT and the Beijing-friendly Taiwan Individuals’s Occasion to problem the DPP. However the deal collapsed in late November amid a dispute over who would head the joint ticket.

‘No losers in peace’: Taiwan’s Ma Ying-jeou sends anti-war message in Beijing

Ma was given VIP therapy throughout his 11-day go to, which took him to Beijing and the provinces of Guangdong and Shaanxi. He was acquired by senior officers, together with Taiwan Affairs Workplace director Music Tao, in addition to native authorities and Communist Occasion heads.

On Wednesday, Xi hosted Ma on the Nice Corridor of the Individuals in Beijing, a venue sometimes reserved for overseas leaders to satisfy with the mainland chief and senior officers. Ma additionally had dinner with Xi.

“Ma Ying-jeou has characterised this journey as a journey of peace. He represents the voices of those that go for cross-strait peace and improvement – which is the mainstream opinion in Taiwan,” Zhu stated.

Zhu added that voices like Ma’s would assist increase Beijing’s confidence in forging peaceable cross-strait unification.

He stated the Xi-Ma assembly got here at a “very beneficial” time for each side to “calmly and rationally convey correct public opinion” and perform cross-strait dialogue as Taiwan was about to get a brand new president and Washington was additionally searching for hotter ties with Beijing.

Of their talks, Xi stated: “Compatriots on the 2 sides are each Chinese language. There isn’t any grudge that can not be resolved, no drawback that can not be talked by.”

Xi additionally stated variations in political techniques couldn’t change the truth that the 2 sides had been one nation. “International interference” can not cease the historic pattern of a “household reunion”, he stated.

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Former Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou requires each side of Taiwan Strait to ‘keep away from conflict’

Former Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou requires each side of Taiwan Strait to ‘keep away from conflict’

Ma responded with a message of peace, saying, “If there’s conflict, it might be insufferable to the Chinese language nation, and the 2 sides have the knowledge to deal with their disputes peacefully.”

He known as for each side to “respect the values and methods of lifetime of their individuals”, saying latest cross-strait tensions had “triggered a way of insecurity among the many public in Taiwan”.

“Ma remains to be Beijing’s best choice to attach the 2 sides of the Taiwan Strait,” stated Stephen Tan, managing director of Worldwide Coverage Advisory Group, a Taipei-based geopolitical threat and coverage consulting agency.

“By Ma’s go to and his assembly with Xi, Beijing has despatched out a transparent message to Taiwan and the world that the 2 sides belong to at least one China and peaceable unification remains to be an choice, whereas nationwide and financial integration are inevitable developments,” Tan stated.

Chao Chun-shan, a retired professor of mainland China research at Tamkang College, stated the message was additionally supposed for Lai forward of his inauguration subsequent month.

He stated the talks between Xi and Ma offered perception for Lai about cross-strait peace.

Ma’s go to comes at a time of heightened cross-strait tensions. Whereas Ma had a coverage of engagement with the mainland as president, relations have soured since Tsai took workplace in 2016, with Beijing slicing off communication with Taipei after Tsai refused to just accept the 1992 consensus.

“It’s as much as Lai to determine whether or not he ought to modify his cross-strait coverage to uphold secure cross-strait relations,” Chao stated.

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Beijing – which sees Taiwan as a part of its territory awaiting reunification, by pressure if essential – has been deeply vital of Lai, labelling him a “troublemaker” and an “obstinate separatist” who might carry conflict to the island.

The US, like most international locations, doesn’t recognise Taiwan as an impartial state however opposes any try and take it by pressure and stays dedicated to supplying it with weapons.

Chao stated that if Lai selected to “stay ambiguous on the Chinese language nation and id points”, Beijing was anticipated to accentuate its stress towards Taiwan.

Lo, of the Taipei suppose tank, stated the go to additionally mirrored Beijing’s hopes to enhance cross-strait hyperlinks by youth exchanges.

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Ma spent three days within the southern province of Guangdong, the place he led the scholars in paying respects on the Huanghuagang Martyrs Cemetery and visited the previous residence of Solar Yat-sen, the founder of recent China.

In Beijing, Ma and the scholars visited the historic Marco Polo Bridge, the place the primary photographs had been fired within the Japanese invasion of China.

“There are not any winners in conflict, and there are not any losers in peace,” he stated, including “errors in conflict could also be forgiven, however historic reality can’t be forgotten”.

On the Nice Wall in Beijing on Tuesday, Ma led the scholars in singing a patriotic music in regards to the combat towards the Japanese throughout World Struggle II.

Lo stated the Taiwanese college students’ first-hand observations and their interactions with locals in the course of the journey might problem their stereotypes of mainland China.

“Younger individuals in Taiwan have more and more recognized themselves as Taiwanese and deal with the mainland because the enemy because of the DPP authorities’s long-time coverage of distancing Taiwan’s historic hyperlinks with the mainland. They’ve been taught mainland China is poor and backward,” Lo stated.

‘Arduous to foretell’ Beijing’s subsequent strikes in the direction of Taiwan below Lai, analysts say

In accordance with surveys, greater than 60 per cent of the island’s individuals determine as Taiwanese, in contrast with 30 per cent who view themselves as each Taiwanese and Chinese language. Simply 3 per cent determine solely as Chinese language.

Nevertheless, 40 per cent of Taiwanese say they’ve an emotional connection to mainland China, based on a survey by Washington-based Pew Analysis Centre carried out late final yr.

Zhu Feng, a professor of worldwide relations at Nanjing College, stated it might take time and steady effort to alter public opinion in Taiwan.

“However in contrast with different age teams, Taiwanese youth are comparatively extra proactive,” he stated, suggesting that younger individuals could be extra prepared to alter their views in the event that they visited the mainland extra typically.

Beijing additionally hopes the KMT can function a guardrail towards Taiwan independence, analysts stated.

“Although the KMT has develop into more and more Taiwan-centric in contrast with the previous, remaining pleasant with the mainland to advertise cross-strait peace and oppose Taiwan independence remains to be its main coverage,” Lo stated.

As the largest opposition celebration, the KMT is keen to assist maintain the DPP from pushing the envelope in its quest for independence, Lo stated.

He stated after Ma’s journey, Beijing was reported to have invited extra KMT heavyweights to go to.

Ex-Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin, additionally a former KMT vice-chairman, left for mainland China on Wednesday to participate in a ceremony to honour the Yellow Emperor within the central province of Henan.

Sean Lien, the incumbent KMT vice-chairman, will go to the mainland to attend the Cross-Strait Discussion board in June, whereas the celebration’s former chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu will lead 200 younger Taiwanese in a visit to the jap province of Zhejiang, based on the KMT.

Tan of the Worldwide Coverage Advisory Group stated though the KMT misplaced the presidential election three consecutive occasions, “nobody might rule out a KMT comeback sooner or later as energy transitions are widespread in Taiwan’s democracy”.

Further reporting by Amber Wang