Taiwan, China must do 'everything possible' to avoid war: former Taiwan President Ma
The Hindu
Taiwan and China must do everything possible to avoid war and it is the responsibility of both sides’ leaders to ensure peace, former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou told a senior Chinese official on Thursday.
Taiwan and China must do everything possible to avoid war and it is the responsibility of both sides' leaders to ensure peace, former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou told a senior Chinese official on Thursday.
Mr. Ma arrived in China on Monday, the first time a former or sitting Taiwanese President has visited the country since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong's communists.
Meeting Song Tao, head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, Mr. Ma said maintaining the peaceful and stable development of relations is the "general mainstream view of Taiwanese society".
It is the common responsibility of the "principals" on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to strive for all opportunities that are conducive to enhancing peace, Mr. Ma said, according to a transcript of his comments provided by Mr. Ma's office in Taipei.
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"The two sides must maintain exchanges, cooperate together, and do everything possible to avoid war and conflict."
China has yet to provide its read out of the meeting.