China’s President Xi Jinping met former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou in Beijing on Wednesday, CCTV reported. It’s the first time a former Taiwanese president has been hosted by the top mainland leadership. It also comes at a time when the island is only weeks away from swearing in a new prime minister belonging to the Democratic Progressive Party which does not see its fortunes as linked to China.
Ma Ying-jeou was Taiwan’s President from 2008 to 2016, and his party the KMT (Kuomintang) is seen as pro-China although he denies it. But both leaders offered carefully nuanced versions of how they see Taiwan vis a vis China. President Xi said “Compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are all Chinese people … external interference cannot stop the historic trend of the reunion of the family and the country.”
Ma Ying-jeou warned that “If a war breaks out between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, it will be an unbearable burden on the Chinese people.”
The Taiwanese leader is not blind to the fact that China has been slowly chipping away at Taiwan’s friends, offering money to seduce them to break diplomatic ties with the island. It has only added to the growing sentiment on Taiwan that it wants nothing to do with the mainland and the appeal of a shared Chinese heritage has therefore waned.
Incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen has clearly said that the future of the island can only be determined by its inhabitants. This view is expected to be taken forward by her successor Lai Ching-te.
What Ma ying-jeou thinks of China’s violation of Taiwan’s air defence identification zone, the aggressive tactics of the PLA navy in the Taiwan Straits and the overall effort to intimidate Taiwan is something that may remain behind closed doors. That that policy has failed may not have been lost on the mainland leadership but they appear unable or unwilling to change course.
With Inputs from Reuters
