Experts and lawmakers weigh in on Ma’s meeting with Xi

Experts and lawmakers weigh in on Ma’s meeting with Xi

2024-04-11

Former President Ma Ying-jeou met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday in Beijing, capturing headlines around the world. DPP lawmakers in Taiwan have slammed Ma, saying that he didn’t dare mention the R.O.C. during his meeting with Xi. Experts have also noted that the hall where Ma and Xi met had previously been used for discussions regarding Hong Kong’s handover to Beijing in the late 20th century.

Nine years after their last meeting, Ma Ying-jeou and Xi Jinping once again came together on Wednesday. Their reunion took place at the East Hall of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, usually reserved for receiving foreign dignitaries.

One day before on Tuesday, Xi had met with the president of the Federated States of Micronesia at the hall. Back in 2021, the hall was where Xi sat during a video conference with U.S. President Joe Biden. At first glance it could appear that Beijing received Ma with the full fanfare. But, the devil is in the details. The hall is also where Deng Xiaoping met with Hong Kong representatives to negotiate the territory’s handover to China and the stationing of PLA troops in Hong Kong.

Kung Shan-son
Institute for National Defense and Security Research
They met there to discuss the handover of Hong Kong and Macao to China. So in a way, that hints that Taiwan will also one day join the motherland. The unification overtones are very obvious. By making the event grander and getting Ma Ying-jeou to come back, it gives Beijing a stronger foothold to convey the political message they intend to convey. I think there were a lot of meticulous calculations behind these arrangements.

Lai Jui-lung
DPP lawmaker
It doesn’t matter which hall they met in. Was Ma received with the respect he should’ve? Even the mention of the R.O.C. has to be covered up, as if it were a slip of the tongue. At the same time, he did not dare breach the issue of PLA aircraft and vessels constantly crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait. He’s just become another tool that China can use to ramp up pressure for its unification goals.

During his meeting with Xi, Ma made a slip of the tongue, saying “the R.O.C.” instead of “ethnic Chinese.” He also touched upon the so-called “1992 Consensus,” saying that there is one China, and that each side of the strait defines China in its own way. Xi however, has insisted on Beijing’s One China principle, which defines Taiwan as part of China. Critics say that the “different interpretations” of China can be no more.

Hung Sun-han
DPP lawmaker
What Ma Ying-jeou’s “one China with different interpretation” means is that he has to limit mentions of the R.O.C. to slips of the tongue, making it as if the R.O.C. were a misunderstanding. We shouldn’t form an alliance with the CCP, which forces the R.O.C., forces Taiwan, to accept its political positions as a prerequisite for peace.

Pundits have decried Ma’s meet with Xi, which has also captured attention from international media outlets. An expert on the Nikkei Asia is quoted as saying that Ma’s trip had encouraged Beijing to believe that its “divide and rule” approach to Taiwan had worked.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53