Ex President Ma Ying-jeou says PRC student's remark 'not malicious'

Taipei, March 10 (CNA) Former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) defended on Monday the reference to Taiwan as "China Taipei" by a student from the People's Republic of China (PRC) on a group visit to the country last year as having "no malicious intent."

Ma was speaking at a hearing held by the National Immigration Agency under the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) to consider the controversial visit by the delegation of students and teachers from China organized by the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation from Nov. 27 to Dec. 5, 2024.

Ma attended the meeting alongside Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑), the director of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, according to the MOI.

Song Siyiao (宋思瑤), a student of Fudan University in Shanghai, referred to Taiwan's baseball team as "China Taipei" (中國台北) rather than the team's official name "Chinese Taipei" (中華台北) in congratulating the team on winning the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier 12 championship in November 2024.

The student's words caused a public outcry in Taiwan. While "Chinese Taipei" is a generally-accepted -- if not particularly liked -- term for Taiwan sports teams, the term "China Taipei" is not used in that context and is provocative in implying that Taiwan is part of China.

Song also drew the ire of Taiwanese by using the term "motherland" (祖國) to refer to China.

The MOI ordered the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, which promotes exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, to provide a written statement over the incident in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act.

Ma told reporters before the meeting on Monday afternoon, however, that he also asked to explain the incident in person.

"We hope to use this opportunity to appeal to the Lai Ching-te (賴清德) government not to use political power and administrative means to block precious opportunities for cross-strait youth exchanges," Ma said, making reference to Taiwan's current president.

"This is not conducive to cross-strait peace and stability, and is not in the interests of the people of Taiwan," the former president said.

The MOI also issued a statement on Monday that said any cross-strait exchanges "should uphold the principles of mutual respect and equal dignity" and "should avoid any behavior or language that belittles our side."

"Inviting units and people from mainland China should abide by relevant regulations and uphold the original intention of the exchange," the MOI statement said.