‘FOCAL POINT’:President Ma Ying-jeou said he had mixed feelings about the DPP’s stance on maintaining the ‘status quo,’ as ‘the opposition usually appeals for change’
Taipei Times
Date: May 19, 2015
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter
Chinese concerns over Taiwan’s student movement have held up negotiations
(File photo/Liu Tsung-lung)
to establish cross-strait representative offices, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday.
“[China] is worried that any organization it establishes in Taiwan would become a focal point for the student movement,” Ma said, adding that the Chinese government might have been “frightened” by last year’s Sunflower movement, despite the Taiwanese government’s assurances of protection.
The concern was a “technical question” compared with deeper Chinese fears over the “political connotations” of setting up the offices, Ma said, reiterating his position that the offices would not amount to “foreign relations” and were necessitated by extensive cross-strait exchanges. [FULL STORY]
