Former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou will visit China from April 1st and will also stay in the capital, Beijing, and all eyes are on whether he will meet with President Xi Jinping.
Former President Ma Ying-jeou's visit to China is scheduled to end on the 11th of this month, and after spending two nights in Guangdong province and four nights in Shaanxi province, he will arrive in the capital, Beijing, on the 7th of this month.
President Ma Mae read out a statement before departing from Taiwan's airport, saying, ``Amid tensions on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, I would like to convey the true feelings of the Taiwanese people who love peace and hope for cross-strait exchanges and the avoidance of war.'' '', he explained the purpose of his visit.
President Ma, who belongs to the Kuomintang Party, held the first-ever China-Taiwan summit meeting with President Xi Jinping in Singapore in 2015 while in office, believing that ``Taiwan and mainland China both belong to one China.''
Furthermore, last spring he visited China for the first time as a former president, and there are speculations that he will meet with President Xi on this visit, which will be his second consecutive visit.
Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party government does not accept ``one China,'' and China has refused dialogue between its authorities on this basis. It appears that he is trying to increase his influence by giving the impression that he is a powerful person who can talk.
If the two actually meet, it will be President Xi's first meeting with a prominent Taiwanese official since Taiwan's presidential election in January decided to continue the Democratic Progressive Party government, and ahead of next month's inauguration of next president Lai Ching-toku. It is attracting attention as an opportunity to demonstrate our future stance toward Taiwan both at home and abroad.