Former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) mention of Taiwan’s official name during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Wednesday was likely a deliberate political play, academics said.
“As I see it, it was intentional,” National Chengchi University Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies professor Wang Hsin-hsien (王信賢) said of Ma’s initial use of the “Republic of China” (ROC) to refer to the wider concept of “the Chinese nation.”
Ma quickly corrected himself, and his office later described his use of the two similar-sounding yet politically distinct terms as “purely a gaffe.”
Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei Times
Given Ma was reading from a script, the supposed slipup was more likely a contrived attempt by the former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) president to score political points back home, Wang Hsin-hsien said.
National Cheng Kung University professor of political science Wang Hung-jen (王宏仁) agreed that the incident had been preplanned.
By referencing the ROC — an entity that Beijing remains technically at war with — Ma hoped to appear “not too weak” next to Xi, Wang Hung-jen said.
Meanwhile, Xi’s mentioning of the so-called “1992 consensus” was a reassertion of his “bottom line” to Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Wang Hsin-hsien said.
The pair’s emphasis on the “consensus” was consistent with the motif of their 2015 meeting in Singapore, Wang Hung-jen said.
The so-called “1992 consensus” — a term that former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000 — refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge that there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
The DPP has never acknowledged the “1992 consensus.” It says that Beijing allows no room for “China” to be interpreted as the ROC and that acceptance of the consensus would imply agreement with China’s claim over Taiwan.
During Xi’s speech, he repeatedly used the terms “Chinese nation,” “Chinese culture” and “youth exchanges,” which Wang Hsin-hsien said were currently the main focus of the CCP’s Taiwan policy.
China’s definition of Taiwanese independence includes attempts at desinicization, including alienation from Chinese nationalism and culture, which explains why Xi repeatedly brought up those terms in his speech, Wang Hsin-hsien said.
Wang Hung-jen said Xi’s rhetoric was directed at the “China-loving unification-minded forces” in Taiwan, while his special emphasis on the youth and students was likely because they were more impressionable.
Tamkang University Graduate Institute of China Studies honorary professor Chao Chun-shan (趙春山) said the phrase “Zhonghua” (中華) — used in Chinese for “ROC” and “the Chinese nation” — was a “magic word” between Ma and Xi.
If China is to “rejuvenate” the Chinese nation, identification with “Zhonghua,” a term indicating a general relation to Chinese civilization, would be key, Chao said.
Rejection of the term would indicate a lack of national or cultural ties between China and Taiwan, rendering any political arrangements between Beijing and Taipei futile, he said.
Conversely, acceptance of “Zhonghua” as a middle ground would provide a politically viable alternative for Beijing, he added.
Chao said that Wednesday’s meeting between Ma and Xi was sending a message to Vice President William Lai (賴清德), who is to take office as president on May 20, that “the two sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to the same nation under ‘one China.’”
Moreover, Ma’s rhetoric demonstrated that both sides having different interpretations of “one China” was still possible, Chao added.
If the DPP can learn from this and adjust its cross-strait policy accordingly, there would be a chance to promote peace under the incoming administration, Chao said.
However, if the DPP continues to be ambivalent toward such concepts, Beijing would continue to view it as an outsider, Chao added.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
RSS