Youth Exchanges & Homage to Ancestors
"He strongly believes, as both sides of the [Taiwan] Strait have entered this frozen situation in recent years, that allowing young people to have an exchange will help reduce tensions. I think no matter how many weapons we buy, it’s not as good as having young people from both sides understand each other, and deepen their exchange," Hsiao Hsu-tsen said.
"Exchanges between young people from the mainland and Taiwan have been on hold for years, and I hope to take the opportunity of this visit to boost interaction between youths of both sides."
Mixed Reactions
"We are willing to provide all necessary help for Mr Ma Ying-jeou to visit and wish him a smooth journey," spokesman Ma Xiaoguang said, with the trip hailed as potentially able to "strengthen exchanges of young people and add fresh vitality to the development of cross-strait relations and peace".
"As the Chinese communists have continued to ramp up pressure on Taiwan, including staging military drills to intimidate us and wooing our allies, as in the recent case of Honduras, it is totally unthinkable that Ma would make such a visit," Chang Chih-hao, a spokesman for the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), was cited as saying.
Timing & Speculations
"China obviously wants to create the impression that as President Tsai is having an important visit in the US, a former leader from Taiwan is making an ice-breaking trip in mainland China," DPP legislator Wu Szu-yao was cited as observing.