Kowtowing to the CCP: Former Taiwan President Ma Doing It Again
Chinese leader Xi Jinping (R) and Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou (L) before a meeting at the Shangrila Hotel in Singapore on Nov. 7, 2015. Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images
Ma Ying-jeou, a former Taiwan President and former Kuomintang Party (KMT) Chairman, has a long history of kowtowing to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He plans to lead a KMT delegation to China with former aids and several dozen students. During the 12-day trip beginning on 27 March, he will visit five cities: Nanjing, Wuhan, Changsha, Chongqing, and Shanghai. This will be the first time a former Taiwanese/Republic of China (ROC) President has gone to Communist China since 1949.
Nanjing and Sun Yat-Sen
Visiting Nanjing is very significant because Dr. Sun Yat-Sen’s mausoleum is located just outside the city, and where Ma sent his Mainland Affairs Council chairman, Wang Yu-chi, to visit in 2014, initiating new “government-to-government” exchanges. Ma could again use the memorial for significant political purposes since Sun Yat-Sen is viewed by the mainland Chinese and Taiwanese as the founder of the modern Chinese state after the fall of the Qing Dynasty.
Guermantes Lailari
Author
Guermantes Lailari is a retired U.S. Air Force Foreign Area officer specializing in counterterrorism, irregular warfare, and missile defense. He holds advanced degrees in international relations and strategic intelligence. He was a Taiwan fellow in Taipei during 2022 and is a visiting researcher at National Chengchi University in 2023.
