Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday referred to Taiwan by its official name, the Republic of China (ROC), during an ancestor worship ritual in China.
Speaking at the burial site of his ancestors in Xiangtan, Hunan Province, Ma said he was elected twice as “president of the ROC,” in the years 92 and 101 on the ROC calendar, referring to 2008 and 2012.
As president, Ma said, he governed with integrity, diligence and care for the people, as he was guided by his family’s philosophy that the main purpose of education is to do good deeds for others.
Photo: CNA
His presidency was the most peaceful and prosperous period in the 70 years of separate governance in Taiwan and China, he said.
His administration achieved it through a policy of maintaining peace with China, building closer ties with the US and enhancing friendship with Japan, Ma said, as he, his sisters and other family members burned incense and made offerings at their ancestors’ grave site.
“This is the first time in my life that I’ve come to the mainland to worship my ancestors and visit my relatives,” Ma said. “It is very emotional.”
The former president’s parents, Ma Ho-ling (馬鶴凌) and Chin Hou-hsiu (秦厚修), moved to Taiwan via Hong Kong after the Chinese Civil War of 1945-1949.
His historic 12-day trip to China, which started on Monday, marks the first of a former Taiwanese president since the ROC government retreated to Taiwan.
During his trip, Ma has used the term ROC on several occasions, but all instances have been edited out of China Central Television coverage of his visit.
At an event in Nanjing on Tuesday, Ma dated a calligraphy scroll “112,” referring to the 112th year since the founding of the ROC.
However, Ma did not write the characters for minguo (republican, 民國) in front of the date to refer to the ROC calendar, as is common in Taiwan.
However, he used the term several times in remarks.
Ma’s trip, and his choice of words, have been criticized by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and pro-independence groups in Taiwan.
Japanese footwear brand Onitsuka Tiger today issued a public apology and said it has suspended an employee amid allegations that the staff member discriminated against a Vietnamese customer at its Taipei 101 store. Posting on the social media platform Threads yesterday, a user said that an employee at the store said that “those shoes are very expensive” when her friend, who is a migrant worker from Vietnam, asked for assistance. The employee then ignored her until she asked again, to which she replied: "We don't have a size 37." The post had amassed nearly 26,000 likes and 916 comments as of this
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
Tourism in Kenting fell to a historic low for the second consecutive year last year, impacting hotels and other local businesses that rely on a steady stream of domestic tourists, the latest data showed. A total of 2.139 million tourists visited Kenting last year, down slightly from 2.14 million in 2024, the data showed. The number of tourists who visited the national park on the Hengchun Peninsula peaked in 2015 at 8.37 million people. That number has been below 2.2 million for two years, although there was a spike in October last year due to multiple long weekends. The occupancy rate for hotels
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
RSS