Mainland China to send academic group to Taiwan after 3-year pause

The students and faculty members will travel at the invitation of organisation led by former Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou

The trip comes as Beijing advocates for more exchanges with the island amid growing cross-strait tensions

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Former Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou (centre) poses with members of his delegation during a visit to the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing in March. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 4:16pm, 12 Jul 2023Updated: 5:03pm, 12 Jul 2023

Mainland China will send its first academic group to Taiwan in three years – at the invitation of an organisation founded by the island’s former president Ma Ying-jeou – in the hopes of resuming cross-strait exchanges.

Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua said the visit, organised by mainland universities, carried “positive significance” for promoting resumed exchanges on both sides, state news agency Xinhua reported on Tuesday.

The Ma Ying-jeou Foundation invited a delegation of 36 students and faculty members from five mainland universities to visit the island for nine days starting on Saturday, he said.

“We support and encourage the strengthening of interactions between young people from both sides of the strait, fostering mutual understanding and learning through exchange and cooperation, and working together to create a bright future,” Chen said.

The invitation comes about three months after Ma made a 12-day private visit to the mainland in late March. He travelled with around 30 students and voiced hopes that exchanges between young people would improve the tensions that have been building across the Taiwan Strait.

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