At the end of a historic visit to China on Friday, former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou claimed the island would have to choose between “peace and war” due to rising tensions with China.
Ma is the first Taiwanese ex-president to visit China. No island leader had visited China since 1949, when the Republic of China retreated to Taiwan after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong’s communists.
“Our administration keeps Taiwan in peril. Peace or conflict is the future, “After returning to Taiwan from Shanghai, Ma told reporters.
Ma was KMT president from 2008 until 2016. The opposing party favors tight ties with China, which claims the island.
Ma’s visit coincided with China’s outrage over Taiwan President Tsai Ing-meeting wen’s with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy this week.
Beijing is increasing political and military pressure on democratic Taiwan to embrace Chinese sovereignty.
Tsai and her government claim only islanders can decide their destiny.
Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) criticized Ma’s travel. Still, he claimed it showed that Taiwan and China could cooperate because both are part of a single China, each having its definition.
Ma stated that a “shared political base” with China would benefit the Taiwanese.
Tsai’s DPP said Ma had become an “accomplice” of Beijing’s “one China” ideology and failed to safeguard Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Beijing, which regards Tsai as a separatist, has rejected her negotiations.
Ma met Xi Jinping in Singapore in 2015, just before Tsai was elected president, but not on this trip.
In Wuhan, he met Song Tao, China’s Taiwan Relations Office chief.
In the run-up to the January presidential election, the KMT will argue that its ties with Beijing are meant to decrease tension.
Ma pledged to work privately “to guarantee Taiwan has a future of true peace and safety.”
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