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Former Taiwan president Ma leaves for China, likely to meet Xi

Ma, president from 2008 to 2016, last year became the first former Taiwanese leader to visit China

By REUTERS
April 02, 2024
Former Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou. — AFP/File
Former Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou. — AFP/File

TAIPEI: Former Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou left on Monday for an 11-day trip to China where he is expected next week to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping for the second time, amid simmering tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

Ma, president from 2008 to 2016, last year became the first former Taiwanese leader to visit China. Since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong’s communists, no serving Taiwanese leader has visited China.

On Monday, Ma arrived in the southern Chinese technology hub of Shenzhen, where he met with China’s Taiwan Affairs Office head Song Tao, the official Xinhua news agency said.