Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday departed for a 12-day trip to China as scheduled, despite calls for him to cancel the trip after Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan as an apparent result of China’s dollar diplomacy.
“This is my first trip to China. I was 37 when I began handling cross-strait affairs in the government. Now I am 73 and have waited 36 years for the visit. It is indeed a bit too long, but I am glad I can go,” Ma of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) told reporters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
“Aside from paying respects to my ancestors, I am taking a group of university students from Taiwan to have exchanges with Chinese university students, which I hope would help ease tensions across the Taiwan Strait and bring peace,” he said.
Photo: Hu Shun-hsiang, Taipei Times
Ma’s office last week said that the former president began planning the trip before the Lunar New Year holiday, but it has been perceived by some as a politically calculated move as President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is scheduled to depart for a 10-day trip tomorrow to visit two allies in Central America — Belize and Guatemala — via a stop in the US.
Taiwan Republic Office director Chilly Chen (陳峻涵) led a protest against Ma and his delegation at the airport yesterday, as they accused the former president of kowtowing to Beijing and selling out Taiwan.
“Right now many countries are supporting Taiwan and promoting more collaboration, but we see Ma and KMT members choose to stand with Beijing, and boost their links to the evil regimes of China and Russia,” Chen said. “Their action misleads the international community about a perceived close association with China.”
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Democratic Progressive Party spokesman Chang Chih-hao (張志豪) last week said that Ma’s visit might send the wrong signal to the international community regarding China’s “aggressive, expansionist” behavior toward Taiwan.
Chang said that Ma’s trip would fall flat with the public, who would not accept seeing a former president “reduced to serving as a pawn in the Chinese Communist Party’s unification efforts.”
New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) yesterday said that everyone would agree that the trip is a politically charged move, and that Ma should know this better than anyone.
“Ma was a Harvard University student when the US ended official ties with Taiwan in 1979. He said that he cried and protested after watching former US president Jimmy Carter make the announcement on TV, as he was uncertain what would happen to Taiwanese students studying in the US at the time,” Chiu said. “Forty-four years later, Ma did not shed any tears when Honduras severed ties with Taiwan because of China’s dollar diplomacy. Instead, he is going to China for his own political interest and to dance to Beijing’s tune.”
As the first former Taiwanese president to set foot in China, Ma should explain whether his office contacted Beijing after obtaining information about Tsai’s trip to Central America, or whether China obtained the information first and was trying to find a “partner” in Taiwan to execute its calculated move, Chiu said.
Additional reporting by Jason Pan
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old