TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) met Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing on Wednesday (April 10), reported Chinese state media (CCTV). 

The meeting occurred on the same day President-elect Lai Ching-te (賴清德) announced his top picks for Cabinet, with Taiwan’s presidential inauguration weeks away on May 20. It also came hours before a “historic” U.S.-Japan summit, where deals were struck on defense and other initiatives. 

Ma, who served as president from 2008 to 2016, called his 11-day trip to China a “journey of peace and friendship.” The former Kuomintang (KMT) president hopes to spearhead “cross-strait peace and prosperity,” while Chinese state media has extensively covered the tour.

The meeting marked the second time Ma and Xi have met in person. The first meeting occurred in 2015 in Singapore, when Ma was still president, although this is the first time that a serving or former Taiwan president has visited Xi in China.  

This is Ma’s second trip to China, following a trip in 2023 where he said people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait “are all Chinese.” During this trip in April, he claimed that most Taiwanese have a strong belief in Chinese culture and national identity.

However, this goes against mainstream sentiment in Taiwan, where less than 3% of the population identifies primarily as Chinese, according to a 2023 poll.

Before the anticipated meeting, Ma Ying-jeou Culture and Education Foundation Director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said Ma "of course hopes there is an opportunity to see an old friend,” referring to the Singapore meeting nine years ago.  

The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taiwan has questioned Ma’s visit to China. 

Ma supports closer ties with China as tensions rise in the Taiwan Strait. Since Lai won the presidential election in January, Beijing has increased patrols around Taiwan’s outer islands and poached another one of its diplomatic allies.