More than ever, efforts at understanding and friendliness like Ma’s are needed. As if to prove this point, Taiwan Premier Chen Chien-jen has inadvertently offered a cogent reason.

While addressing lawmakers in the Legislative Yuan, Chen said he hoped Ma would tell President Xi Jinping that Taiwan was a sovereign and independent country, and that he must defend freedom and democracy during his visit.

Contrary to Western and DPP propaganda, Beijing has accepted Taiwan’s system of government and way of life. That was how “one country, two systems” was originally conceived, long before it was applied to Hong Kong and Macau. What Beijing rejects is secession.

Given the almost universally known fact that Taiwan independence is the ultimate red line that Beijing will not allow the island to cross, Chen was effectively telling Ma to dare Xi to start a war of unification.

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Such an incendiary statement from Chen is not just irresponsible but infantile.

In poll after poll, the vast majority of Taiwanese have shown a preference for the status quo. As underpinned by the “one China” policy, it has proven its worth at preserving stability and prosperity across the strait, at least until secessionists such as those from the DPP and their political allies and supporters, and especially the US, start cutting away at it through the proverbial salami slicing, or what the secessionists themselves call jiàn dú, which literally means independence by a “gradualistic” approach.

Ma sensibly rejected Chen’s childish suggestion. In a statement issued by his office, Ma said: “Taiwan is not a country, but a part of China.”

He is merely stating the obvious, and he has the courage of his convictions by visiting the mainland. The DPP-friendly media, such as the Liberty Times, have gone into a paroxysm of outrage, declaring that his visit is defying the wishes of most Taiwanese.

Well, it’s hard to know what the majority of people actually make of his trip without holding a poll. Most likely, they just don’t care.

But what we do know is that most Taiwanese do not support de jure independence, but prefer the current far more ambiguous status. They don’t want Ma to go over and poke his fingers into Beijing’s eyes.

That may be what rebellious children like to do to their parents, but Ma is an adult, politically speaking.

The visit will not magically improve cross-strait relations. After all, long out of office, Ma represents no one electorally but himself.

But if there has been an endless stream of Western politicians and busybodies arriving in Taipei, effectively to encourage the island on its dangerous path, we need people of goodwill and political sensibility to promote the importance of a good relationship between the two sides leading eventually to peaceful unification.

To help young Taiwanese appreciate their Chinese heritage, as the Ma trip also aims to achieve, is a laudable goal.

Mainland China holding ‘Taiwanese soldier’ who was picked up by coastguards

There is only one Chinese nation, and no amount of “de-sinicisation” as practised by the DPP and its political allies can erase that fundamental historical fact.

It’s a crime to try to deny young people their Chinese culture. Hopefully, the next generation will be wiser than this one, and figure out a way for both sides to live together peacefully and prosperously as one.

Ma’s courageous efforts are a good start.