The Ma Ying-jeou Foundation released a statement on March 25th, saying that former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou will lead a student delegation to China in early April. Ma and the delegation will visit various cultural and historical sites in Guangdong and Shaanxi provinces and Beijing from April 1st to 11th.
The group also plans to visit Sun Yet-sen and Peking Universities during the visit, where they will hold conferences with Chinese scholars and students.
The Foundation’s Director, Hsiao Hsu-tsen, did not confirm if Ma would meet with senior Chinese Communist Party or government officials when the group is in Beijing. He also said the Foundation reported the upcoming trip to the Taiwanese President’s Office.
Hsiao also said that exchanges are important to start “at an early age” so they can develop into deeper ties in the future. Hsiao said that deeper friendships will mean that the potential for a conflict to occur will decrease.
The April 2024 visit will be the second student exchange trip Ma led to China after leading one in March 2023. Ma caused significant controversy when he said, “We are all Chinese,” when visiting Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing.
