Ex-President Ma Ying-jeou to visit China for second time this year

Taipei/Beijing, Dec. 11 (CNA) Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) will make a second visit to China this year, traveling to the provinces of Heilongjiang and Sichuan later this month, his foundation said Wednesday.

In a press release, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation CEO Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said Ma would lead a group of Taiwanese students to China on a nine-day trip from Dec. 18-26, at the invitation of the Chinese side.

The trip will mark the second time the former president has visited China this year, following an earlier trip in April.

The upcoming trip, which includes stops in Harbin and Chengdu cities, demonstrated Ma's efforts to foster exchanges among young people from Taiwan and China, and promote peace between the two sides, Hsiao said.

He also cited Ma as saying "the more exchanges and deeper understanding there are among young people across the Taiwan Strait, the fewer conflicts there will be in the future."

Commenting on the matter during a press briefing on Wednesday in Beijing, Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮), a spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said the Chinese government "welcomes Ma Ying-jeou to visit again" and "continues to support and promote exchanges between young people" of the two sides.

Hsiao's announcement came less than a week after around 40 students and faculty members from seven Chinese universities wrapped up their nine-day tour of Taiwan arranged by Ma's foundation.

The Chinese delegation initially received moderate media attention but was later embroiled in controversy, including one incident in which a student referred to Taiwan's national baseball team as a team from "China Taipei" while speaking to Taiwanese media.

The comment triggered protests from some students and a pro-independence group in places the Chinese delegation visited.