Hello friends.
A few days ago, I announced to you that Ma Ying-jeou, the former leader of the Taiwan region, will visit the mainland today (April 1).
At 14:06 p.m. today (April 1), Ma Ying-jeou arrived at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport, and will continue to visit for 11 days.
As we all know, this is Ma Ying-jeou's second visit since last year, and this visit is particularly important given the sensitive timing of the visit.
From March 27 to April 7 last year, during the Qingming Festival, Ma Ying-jeou came to the mainland to worship his ancestors and return to his hometown to find his roots. This year's visit also coincides with the Qingming Festival, and there are also activities to worship ancestors and return to their hometowns to find their roots.
However, we cannot ignore the fact that it is now before May 20, and whether Ma Ying-jeou will play some role in communicating between the two sides of the strait this time has aroused great concern.
Although Ma Ying-jeou has not disclosed more information so far, we can get a glimpse of it from his trip and the mainland's reception of him.
First of all, judging from the itinerary, Ma Ying-jeou did not go to Beijing during the whole last year, so there is no question of meeting with the top leader.
It is worth mentioning that in November 2015, when Ma Ying-jeou was about to leave office, he spent a day traveling back and forth to Singapore to meet with mainland leaders who were visiting Singapore at the time.
Although the two sides did not reach any consensus in the end, at least when he was about to leave office, he completed the all-time summit between the leaders of the two sides of the strait, which is of great historical significance.
Therefore, when Ma Ying-jeou visited the mainland last year, many people speculated whether he would meet with the top leader, but at present, of course, he did not.
But this year is different, judging from the itinerary announced by Ma Ying-jeou, the last stop is worth paying attention to.
At present, Ma Ying-jeou has arrived in Guangdong and will stay for three days, the day after tomorrow (April 3) afternoon he will leave for Shaanxi for a few days, and this Sunday (April 7) he will arrive in Beijing in the afternoon to stay for a few more days.
I still remember that the last stop last year was Shanghai, and I would visit Hunan and other places on the way, which shows that the whole process was private and private. And the last stop this time is Beijing, and the signal released behind it is very concerning.
Second, judging from the mainland's greeting and reception of Ma Ying-jeou, it is actually a higher standard than last year.
First of all, judging from the specifications of the greeting, when Ma Ying-jeou arrived at the airport this afternoon, he was personally greeted by the deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, the director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of Guangdong Province, and others, while last year there was no such high standard.
According to the information we have received, the director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council will hold a dinner with Ma Ying-jeou and others at a hotel in Shenzhen this evening.
It is worth noting that the director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council should have arrived in Shenzhen yesterday (March 31), while last year, the director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council only appeared on the fourth day of Ma Ying-jeou's trip to the mainland.
Although these are just details, Westerners often say, "The devil is in the details." "So a lot of important arrangements are hidden in these details.
The time when I recorded the show was only an hour and a half after Ma Ying-jeou's arrival at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport, we can probably see some clues from the pick-up, the day's reception, and the itinerary.
In addition, Ma Ying-jeou's schedule this afternoon is also very busy. Judging from the public itinerary, he will visit three companies - Tencent, DJI, and BYD.
These three enterprises not only represent the high-tech level of the mainland, but also have a certain influence in the world. And, frankly, these three companies are not without geostrategic sensitivities at the moment.
Tencent is one of the most trafficked technology companies in Chinese mainland, with businesses including games and social media; DJI specializes in drones. BYD is mainly engaged in electric vehicle business, and since the Munich Motor Show in August last year, it has swept all the way to the European and even American markets, causing fear in Europe and the United States.
This time, Ma Ying-jeou led more than 20 students from the "Dajiu School" in Taiwan to visit these three enterprises, which is obviously beneficial to narrowing the distance between young people on both sides of the strait.
Moreover, judging from the speech made by Ma Ying-jeou at the Taipei airport before his departure, the main reason for his visit this time is to send a signal of peace, so this is not only a trip to peace, but also a trip to friendship.
Frankly speaking, this is a slight difference from last year's ancestor worship and returning to his hometown to find his roots, so we are still quite interested in the political signals of Ma Ying-jeou's visit to Beijing after that.
Tomorrow (April 2), Ma Ying-jeou should travel to Guangzhou, where he will give a speech at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou. I still remember that on this day last year, French President Emmanuel Macron also visited Sun Yat-sen University and delivered a speech.
In addition, Ma Ying-jeou will also visit the site of the Whampoa Military Academy and the cemetery of the 72 martyrs of the Xinhai Revolution.
Frankly speaking, all of the above trips will be remembered by Ma Ying-jeou, and it can be said that this is the common foundation of people with lofty ideals in the early 20th century, which is very meaningful.
The day after tomorrow, he will go to Shaanxi.
As we all know, the roots of the Chinese nation lie in Shaanxi, and Shaanxi also has quite a strong red political color, and we will continue to observe what kind of performance Ma Ying-jeou will have in this regard after he reaches Shaanxi.
On the evening of the 3rd, Ma Ying-jeou will arrive in Shaanxi and participate in the ancestor worship ceremony of the Yellow Emperor's Mausoleum in Shaanxi on the morning of the 4th, which coincides with the Qingming Festival.
During the three days from April 4 to 7, Ma Ying-jeou paid homage to the Yellow Emperor's Mausoleum and did some other root-seeking trips, and we were also interested in observing what other itineraries were directly or indirectly related to contemporary Chinese red culture.
On the afternoon of April 7, the trip to Shaanxi ended, and Ma Ying-jeou will leave for Beijing to start his visit to Beijing until April 11.
During the four-day period, there were rumors overseas that Ma Ying-jeou might meet with the leader of Chinese mainland on April 8, but these are only overseas rumors, and everything is subject to the official itinerary.
Ma Ying-jeou's current visit to the mainland should be said to be a mission, and this mission includes his personal mission, as well as a mission for the Kuomintang and a mission for the Taiwan region.
However, Ma Ying-jeou said on the plane this morning that he has been out of public office for eight years and has neither public office nor party office, so he is completely self-serving to deliver peace.
We fully agree with this point and agree with his strong Chinese sentiment and peace complex.
However, the vice chairman of the Kuomintang said yesterday and today that Ma Ying-jeou was on a peace trip.
To some extent, this is the KMT's endorsement of Ma Ying-jeou.
In addition, there is a legislator in the KMT, who has long undertaken the mission of communicating with the DPP authorities, and even calls Lai Qingde Brother Qingde.
And this person also came out yesterday to say that he personally hopes that Ma Ying-jeou will come out and convey some voices to tell the mainland that the people in the Taiwan region love peace so much.
Who are the people of Taiwan? There is no doubt that they are the voters of Taiwan, and among them, there are those who vote for the Kuomintang and those who vote for the party.
Therefore, Ma Ying-jeou's visit to the mainland undertakes these three missions, namely the individual, the Kuomintang and the Taiwan region, and the last layer is obviously the most important, which is what we really deserve.
As for Ma Ying-jeou's itinerary, that's it for now, and now let's talk about another thing.
Yesterday, 31 March, Laura Rosenberg, president of the American Institute in Taiwan, arrived in Taiwan and met with Tsai Ing-wen this morning and Lai Ching-te and Hsiao Mei-qin in the afternoon.
Laura Rosenberg is visiting Taiwan for the second time this year, the first being on January 14 this year, when she visited with former U.S. National Security Adviser and former Permanent Deputy Secretary of State.
The timing of the visit was very coincidental, because on January 13, just after the election of the leader of the Taiwan region, the three of them arrived in Taipei on the 14th to meet with Tsai Ing-wen, Lai Qingde and Hsiao Meiqin.
Of the three, only Laura Rosenberg is the current senior official, and she has only been in office for one year, before she was a scholar specializing in policy and strategy towards China and Taiwan, and then she served in the US National Security Council, and later was appointed president of the American Institute in Taiwan.
It is worth noting that Laura Rosenberg has visited Taiwan five times in just one year after taking office, that is, she has been here three times before this year, and she is also the person directly in charge of US policy towards Taiwan by the American Institute in Taiwan.
Then it's interesting that Ma Ying-jeou began his visit to Chinese mainland today, and Laura Rosenberg met with Tsai Ing-wen and Lai Qingde and Xiao Meiqin today.
This shows that in recent times, the United States, Chinese mainland, the Kuomintang and the Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan, as well as people like Ma Ying-jeou who have no party or public office, these five parties are engaged in intensive and subtle bilateral and multilateral interactions, all of which are acting on the upcoming "520".