President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has expressed a wish that China scale back visits from high-level officials to Taiwan “during a certain period of time.”
During a meeting with pan-blue Taipei City councilors at the Presidential Office on Thursday, Ma did not mention how long the “certain period of time” would be, but some city councilors who were at the meeting interpreted it to mean that visits from large groups of high-level Chinese officials would probably not be seen until after next year’s presidential and legislative elections in January.
According to those present at the Thursday gathering, Ma said media portrayal of local government officials competing to extend invitations to high-level Chinese officials, such as provincial governors and secretaries, had left a bad impression on the general public.
Ma was quoted by those at the meeting as saying that he had conveyed his message through proper channels that China should cut down visits from high-level officials.
Presidential Office spokesman Fang Chiang Tai-chi (范姜泰基) later confirmed that Ma had conveyed his wish to China through the Mainland Affairs Council in order to reduce the effects of outside factors on the campaign season in Taiwan.
Some city councilors said they were surprised at Ma’s “rare expression of putting the brakes” on cross-strait exchanges.
Ma’s remarks also provoked criticism across party lines.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Tsao Erh-chung (曹爾忠) said that cross-strait issues should be handled normally, without ulterior considerations during elections.
Saying that Taiwan welcomed officials coming to Taiwan to shop around, KMT Legislator Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) suggested that what Ma was worried about was the attitude of some visiting Chinese officials, who had been arrogant and acted as though they were on a charity tour.
It is also a reminder that KMT local representatives should act in a more refined manner to avoid giving anyone the chance to manipulate politics, Lai added.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), on the other hand, said that Ma’s comments were a clumsy denial that had only exposed his motive. He said Ma was secretly hoping that China would help his election campaign efforts, but was also worried that Chinese help would backfire on him.
Tsai questioned the Ma administration’s claims that Chinese tour groups would bring economic benefits to Taiwan by buying agricultural produce.
“If it were so, why was the Ma administration afraid that the working class might not accept his policy?” he asked.
DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said there were rumors that China had asked each of its provinces to “adopt” a county or city in Taiwan, which was why provinces and towns in China had formed tourist groups to visit Taiwan.
Huang added that the big promotions about the benefits of Chinese tourism had not lived up to expectations, adding that instead of helping Ma’s campaign efforts, they had only deducted points from his administration’s image.
TRANSLATED BY JAKE CHUNG, STAFF WRITER
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY TSENG WEI-CHEN
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
RSS