Ex-President Ma's foundation invites Chinese student group to Taiwan

Taipei, Nov. 4 (CNA) Former President Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) foundation has invited 40 Chinese students to meet with their counterparts from Taiwanese universities during a nine-day visit to Taiwan.

At a news conference in Taipei Monday, CEO of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said the visiting students from China's Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhejiang University, Fujian Normal University and Beijing Sport University would arrive in Taiwan on Nov. 27.

Hsiao said the 40 Chinese students on the invitation list include double Olympic table tennis champion Ma Long (馬龍) of Beijing Sport University, and 2020 Tokyo Olympic shooting gold medalist Yang Qian (楊倩) of Tsinghua University.

He added the Chinese students would meet with their counterparts from National Taiwan University, National Tsing Hua University, National Chengchi University, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Chinese Culture University and Chang Gung University in Taiwan.

In addition, Hsiao said that for the first time ever, the Chinese student group will also visit Taipei Municipal Zhong Shan Girls High School.

At a time when tensions across the Taiwan Strait are escalating, both sides need more exchanges so interactions between the young generation of Taiwan and China are expected to allow them to build a better understanding of each other and deliver peace messages to assuage cross-strait unease, Hsiao said.

The foundation head added that the visit was in line with President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) hopes for healthy and orderly exchanges between Taiwan and China.

Hsiao cited a visit of Chinese students to Taiwan last year, also invited by his foundation, as saying the visit had been highly recognized by ranking officials from the former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) administration of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Lai of the DPP succeeded Tsai to take office in May.

Hsiao said the foundation will file an application with the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), which is in charge of supervising cross-strait exchanges, and the Ministry of Education for the visit by the 40 Chinese students and urged the authorities to approve the visit as soon as possible.

According to Hsiao, when he met with Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正), head of the MAC, and Deputy Education Minister Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) in July and mentioned the foundation's plan to invite Chinese students to come to Taiwan this year, the two officials both recognized the need for such an exchange.