We reported earlier this week that the former President of Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou is all set to visit mainland China after a long time and this will also be the first time after the 1960 China-Taiwan conflict that any former President of Taiwan is going to visit mainland China after his tenure. We already knew that there would something of note during his visit to China as it is known that he has better ties with China compared to the current Taiwan President Tsai. As expected, we have a statement from the former Taiwan President that might trigger many people.
During his visit, the former Taiwan President said that “People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are ethnically Chinese and share the same ancestor.” While this is partially true, the fact that he said we are all Chinese suggests that he is in favor of Taiwan merging with China which is what the current ruling party of Taiwan is strongly against. Ma’s office provided a statement which reads, “People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are Chinese people, and are both descendants of the Yan and Yellow Emperors,”
However, polls were conducted among the People of Taiwan and the results show that most Taiwanese no longer see themselves as Chinese and they want to have their own identity. Sun is still officially considered as the father of Republic of China, as Taiwan is called even today. KMT has been in favor of stronger ties with China but denies itself as being pro-Beijing which is to do with the fact that they also don’t want to merge with China. However, we believe that the best chance for China to merge peacefully with Taiwan is to bring the KMT to power as the current Taiwan government is strongly against any co-operation with the Chinese side.
He added that “We sincerely hope that the two sides will work together to pursue peace, avoid war, and strive to revitalize China,” and continued that “This is an unavoidable responsibility of Chinese people on both sides of the Strait, and we must work hard.” referring to Chinese people from the ethnicity point of view rather than nationality.
