Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is to lead a group of students from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation’s academy to China on Beijing’s invitation from Wednesday next week to Dec. 26, foundation chief executive Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said today.
The group is planning to attend a winter-themed cross-strait youth festival in Harbin and visit Chengdu in Sichuan Province, Hsiao said.
Following the Chinese student and faculty group the foundation recently invited to Taiwan, Ma is now to lead Taiwanese students to visit China, he said.
Photo: Lin Hsin-ying, Taipei Times
As cross-strait relations reach a crucial moment amid rising global tensions, Ma is taking concrete action to promote cross-strait exchanges between young people, Hsiao said.
Ma aims to build a bridge of peace between both sides, overcome political difficulties and convey the public’s desire for cross-strait interactions, he added.
As more young people from across the Strait interact and understand each other, future conflicts become less likely, Hsiao said.
Although the foundation is a private organization, it helps the government promote cross-strait exchanges by organizing several annual trips for young people in China and Taiwan, he said.
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