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Taiwan's ex-president calls for dialogue with China after Greek forum

ROC Central News Agency

04/30/2023 02:54 PM

Taoyuan, April 30 (CNA) Former Republic of China (Taiwan) President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) called on all parties to urge the two sides of the Taiwan Strait to engage in dialogue to avoid war and strive for peace upon returning to Taiwan on Sunday after wrapping up a trip to Greece for a forum.

Ma said at Taoyuan International Airport that he delivered a speech during a Delphi Economic Forum event on Friday, attended by about 1,000 experts and scholars from Europe.

The participants were mostly of the view that maintaining peace across the Strait and regional security was of the utmost importance, he said, and as such he urged efforts be made to push for dialogue between Taiwan and China to avoid war and promote peace.

At the airport Ma also called on the Democratic Progressive Party government to promote cross-strait relations in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of China, Taiwan's formal name, and the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area so as to meet the country's needs.

Noting that experts and scholars from various countries at the forum agreed with this view, the former president said he hoped the Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) government will listen to the suggestions made during the forum and implement them in line with the needs of the country's people.

Ma's Greek trip was marred by controversy because of an issue with his title, which forum organizers changed multiple times before referring to Ma, who was ROC president from 2008 to 2016, as the "Former President of the Kuomintang party - Chinese Taipei" on the forum's official website.

The organizer initially listed his title as "Former President of Taipei," before correcting it to "Former President of Taiwan" briefly after Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged a protest.

However, Ma's title was later re-designated to "Former Leader of Taipei" on the website until it was changed again to its latest designation.

The last title refers to Ma's time as head of the Kuomintang, which is Taiwan's main opposition party, from 2005-2007 and 2009-2014.

Meanwhile, Ma's office provided a copy of an invitation letter sent by Symeon G. Tsomokos, the forum's founder and president, in January, in which Ma was addressed as "President Ma Ying-jeou Republic of China (2008-2016)."

According to a press release from Ma's office, the organizer apologized in person when Ma was in Greece for the mix up with the designation on the website, but said it might not be updated in time due to "understaffing" as the forum was being held.

Ma departed for Greece on April 24, attended the opening ceremony of the four-day forum on April 26 and engaged in a fireside chat on April 28 with Cheng Li (李成), director of the Brookings Institution's John L. Thornton China Center, on current geopolitical tensions in Asia.

(By Wu Jui-chi, Teng Pei-ju and Evelyn Kao)

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