Former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday urged Taiwan and China to engage in dialogue to avoid a war and promote peace, following his return from the Delphi Economic Forum in Greece, which ended on Saturday.
Ma was greeted by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators upon his arrival at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
Ma said his speech at the forum was attended by more than 1,000 political, economic and business leaders from across Europe, who believed that maintaining cross-strait and regional peace is essential.
Photo: CNA
“I also called on all parties to urge Taiwan and China to engage in dialogue and seek peace,” he said.
The Democratic Progressive Party government should proceed with cross-strait relations by strictly following the Constitution of the Republic of China and the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), Ma said.
“Many of the experts at the forum agreed with me on this issue. I hope that the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) can listen to and practice the views I expressed and heard at the forum. This is the way to meet the needs of the country and the people,” he said.
Presidential Office spokeswoman Olivia Lin (林聿禪) later yesterday said that Ma still subscribes to cross-strait policies that were predominant in the 1970s, adding that cross-strait relations then were very different from now.
“It is a fact that the Republic of China is not part of the People’s Republic of China, and vice versa,” she said. “The chief goal of our handling of cross-strait relations is to ensure that Taiwanese can continue having a free and democratic way of life, and that their rights can be protected. We also hope to do everything we can to maintain peace.”
Ma’s trip to Greece was marred by a controversy surrounding his title.
The Delphi Forum Web site refers to Ma as “the former president of the Kuomintang party — Chinese Taipei,” referring to his KMT leadership between 2005 and 2014.
The forum on April 21 changed Ma’s title from “former president of Taipei” to “former president of Taiwan” following calls from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ma’s office about the error.
His title was later revised to “Former Leader of Taipei” until it was changed again to its current wording.
Ma served as president from 2008 to 2016.
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