In the wake of his groundbreaking trip to China, former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou cautioned that escalating tensions with China under Taiwan's current administration would force the island to choose between "peace and war" in the future.
Ma is the first former Taiwanese president to visit China, and no sitting island leader has visited the country since the Republic of China government retreated to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the civil war to Mao Zedong's communists.
Upon returning from his 12-day visit, Ma expressed his concerns at Taiwan's main airport, stating, "Our administration continues to lead Taiwan to danger. The future is a choice between peace and war." Ma served as president from 2008 to 2016, heading a Kuomintang (KMT) government that favored closer ties with China, which claims Taiwan as its territory.
The ex-president's visit coincided with increased tensions as China took umbrage at a meeting between Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during Tsai's stopover in the United States. China has been intensifying its political and military pressure on Taiwan to accept Chinese sovereignty, a notion that Tsai and her government have rejected, insisting that only the island's inhabitants can determine their future.
While Tsai's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) criticized Ma's trip, he argued that it demonstrated the possibility of Taiwan and China engaging under the principle that both belong to a single China, albeit with separate interpretations.
Ma suggested that a "common political basis" with China would be in the best interests of Taiwan's people. In response, the DPP accused Ma of being an "accomplice" to Beijing's "one China" principle and failing to defend Taiwan's sovereignty.
Although Tsai has extended offers for dialogue with China, Beijing has spurned her advances, perceiving her as a separatist. Ma met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Singapore in 2015 but did not meet with him during his recent visit. Instead, he met with Song Tao, the head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, while touring historical sites in various cities.
The KMT has defended its contacts with China, asserting that it aims to reduce tensions and plans to emphasize this approach in the lead-up to the January presidential election. Ma vowed to continue working privately "to ensure Taiwan has a future of real peace and safety."
