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Taiwan
ChinaPolitics

Taiwan’s cross-strait council slams former president Ma Ying-jeou over ‘belittling’ one-China comments

  • Mainland Affairs Council says Ma’s speech at Hunan University echoed Beijing’s one-China principle, hurting Taiwanese sovereignty and dignity
  • ‘Is the ROC constitution not the one-China constitution? Is the mainland not our territory according to our constitution?’, Ma’s office hits back

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Former Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou is on a 12-day visit to the mainland, the first cross-strait trip by a former or sitting leader of the island. Photo: AP
Lawrence Chungin Taipei
Taiwan’s top cross-strait policy planner has slammed as “belittling” and “contrary to the fact” comments from ex-president Ma Ying-jeou that both the island and the mainland belonged to China.

Ma’s office dismissed the accusations as “groundless” and warned against creating a “two-China dispute”.

The comments came after Ma, who is touring the mainland in a personal capacity, gave a talk at a central Chinese university in which he defined the status of both Taiwan and the mainland as part of China.

Ma’s comment was tied to his bid to promote the “1992 consensus” between Beijing and Taiwan’s former ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party, offering two concepts of China that he believed could allow the two sides to find common ground and negotiate peace.

“Our country amended the constitution in 1997 …. In defining our country, there are two parts, one is the Taiwan area and the other is the mainland area. Both are part of our Republic of China, both are China,” Ma told the audience at Hunan University, referring to the official name for Taiwan.

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