Ma Ying-jeou urges Taiwan’s next president to respond ‘pragmatically’ to Xi Jinping’s ‘olive branch’
- Island’s former leader also calls on William Lai to ‘confirm the one-China framework’
- He made the remarks after a trip to the mainland, which included a meeting with Xi
Lai, of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, was elected in January and will be inaugurated next month.
Using Taiwan’s official name for itself, Ma wrote in a Facebook post on Monday that Lai should “follow the Constitution of the Republic of China, confirm the one-China framework based on the constitution, and ensure that the two sides of the strait are not two separate countries”.
The ROC constitution, which includes the one-China concept, was adopted by the Nationalist, or Kuomintang, government in Nanjing in 1947. It has remained in effect in Taiwan since the KMT fled to the island and set up an interim government there after being defeated by the Communists in mainland China during the civil war in 1949.
Tsai’s second four-year term ends on May 20. Her successor, Lai, has been denounced by Beijing as a “troublemaker” and “obstinate separatist”.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. Most countries, including the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state but oppose any attempt to take it by force.