Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday began a 12-day tour of China with a visit to the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing.
He paid tribute to Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙), a founder of the Republic of China, giving a short speech and then bowing in front of the memorial.
“The people of both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to the Chinese nation, are children of Yandi (炎帝) and Huangdi (黃帝),” he told reporters who had been allowed to follow him on the trip, referring to figures said to have founded of the Han ethnicity in ancient China.
Photo: AP
Ma has framed the trip as an effort to lower tensions between Taipei and Beijing by promoting exchanges, bringing Taiwanese college students with him on the visit.
“We sincerely hope that the two sides will work together to pursue peace, avoid war and strive to revitalize China. This is an unavoidable responsibility of Chinese people on both sides of the Strait, and we must work hard,” he said, using an expression that refers to Chinese people as an ethnicity rather than a nationality.
Ma praised Sun, who advocated for a “modern Chinese nation” and the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty.
Photo: Ma Ying-jeou’s Office via AP
Outside the mausoleum, a crowd gathered to see if they could catch a glimpse of the former president.
Most of the regular tourists expecting to be able to see the mausoleum and the surrounding park found themselves blocked from entering, although a few who had reserved in advance were allowed to enter the site.
“Even though there are some difficulties on the official front, as long as there are benefits to the public and you can build a good foundation, then this will be good for the unification of both sides,” said Chen Shaoan, who was at the mausoleum to see Ma.
Ma also visited the China Modern History Museum, which is the site of the old Presidential Palace in Nanjing.
Ma arrived at Shanghai Pudong International Airport earlier in the morning, where he was greeted by Chen Yuanfeng (陳元豐), deputy minister on China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Zhong Xiaomin (鍾曉敏), head of the Shanghai City Government’s Taiwan Affairs Office, and Chinese Communist Party Shanghai Standing Committee member Zhang Wei (張為).
Additional reporting by CNA
Netflix on Wednesday said it is to charge NT$100 more per month for each user that is not part of the same household. Under the plan, the streaming service is to limit viewership to people who live in the same household. If a member wishes to add people outside of their address, they must pay NT$100 more per person every month. No additional viewers can be added to the NT$270 per month “basic” account. “Standard” accounts (NT$330) can add one user, while “premium” (NT$390) accounts can add two users. The company has said that people in the same household would still be able
PRESSURE POINT: Beijing might seek to lean on Musk to prevent his SpaceX from providing Taiwan access to its Starlink satellite system, ‘The Economist’ said Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) called out Elon Musk on Twitter, saying the value of democracy transcends that of money after the Tesla CEO said that China was likely to “integrate” Taiwan. Asked in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday last week if “China would make a move to take control of Taiwan,” Musk said that “the official policy of China is that Taiwan should be integrated... One does not need to read between the lines.” “There is a certain inevitability to the situation,” he added. “That is their policy, and I think you should take their word seriously,” Musk said. Regarding
VIGILANCE: The mask mandate would remain in effect at healthcare facilities, healthcare-related institutes and senior welfare facilities due to high infection risks there The mask mandate would be extended next month for three types of venues, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday as it reported that the average daily number of hospitalized COVID-19 cases increased by more than 30 percent last week. Local COVID-19 cases last week rose to an average of 204 daily hospitalizations, an increase of 32.5 percent from the previous week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. The number of prescriptions for oral anti-viral drugs to treat COVID-19 also increased to 23,503 courses — 17,424 courses of Paxlovid and 6,079 courses of molnupiravir. The average positivity rate
GROWING FAST: China continues to outpace the US in its production and commissioning of ships, as it seeks to expand ‘far seas operations,’ an ex-US Navy captain said China continued to increase its naval capacity last year, indicating that it is seeking to bolster its ability to invade Taiwan, a retired US Navy captain said. In an article published in this month’s issue of the US Naval Institute’s Proceedings magazine, retired US Navy Captain James Fanell wrote that China commissioned 10 warships and one submarine last year, and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) was continuing to commission the most annual tonnage globally, as it has done for at least the past five years. The PLAN is also outproducing the US Navy in total number of ships, tonnage and