Taiwan’s former President and former Kuomintang Chairman Ma Ying-jeou arrived in China on March 27 to worship his ancestors. Political observers take his reception in China as the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) countermeasure to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s trip to the U.S. at the same time.
Reports showed that the CCP provided a much lower level of reception to Ma than what he had expected:
- The CCP called him “Mr. Ma Ying-jeou” instead of “President Ma Ying-jeou.”
- Ma did not receive a “Presidential treatment” at the airport. Ma’s team expected to see Ding Xuexiang, member of the Standing Committee of the CCP Politburo, a state-level official to welcome Ma there. Instead, Chen Yuanfeng (陈元丰), Deputy Director of the State Councils’ Taiwan Affairs Office, a Deputy-Ministerial level official, came to meet Ma at the airport.
- Ma planned to bring six secret service agents, each with a gun and a bulletproof jacket and Ma himself would wear another (the seventh) bulletproof jacket. However, Beijing only allowed Ma and his guards to carry 3 guns, 2 bulletproof briefcases, and 3 bulletproof jackets. (meaning Ma would not be able to wear one). Beijing also didn’t allow them to bring any radio and anti-listening bug devices with them.
A commentator pointed out that the CCP treated Ma not as a former president, but rather as a former provincial governor, since it wanted to downgrade Taiwan to the level of a province.
Source:
1. Liberty Times, March 27, 2023
https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/politics/breakingnews/4252848
2. China Times, March 23, 2023
https://www.chinatimes.com/realtimenews/20230323004426-260407?chdtv