The nation is a long-standing entity. In contrast to the nation, a country often represents a relatively short-term choice. There is no right or wrong in existence, while choices can be right or wrong.
Former President Ma Ying-jeou recently visited mainland China and made two “slips of the tongue” in a matter of days, referring to the “Chinese nation” as the “Republic of China.” He then corrected himself back to “Chinese nation” after two more instances.
As a holder of a Doctor of Law degree, Ma Ying-jeou should know the difference between “nation” and “Republic.” He has delivered numerous speeches around the world and shouldn’t make such “slips of the tongue,” especially when reading from a prepared script during his speeches.
Ma Ying-jeou’s two “slips of the tongue” have caused a stir in Taiwan. There are voices of approval, praising him for mentioning the “Republic of China” in front of Xi Jinping. There are also criticisms because he didn’t dare touch upon the key point of cross-strait non-subordination throughout his entire visit to the mainland. However, almost all discussions revolve around cross-strait relations and the power struggle between China and the United States.
The question is, during Ma Ying-jeou’s visit to Beijing, being accompanied by Cai Qi and Wang Huning alongside Xi Jinping, with three members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee receiving him, as a former president who has been out of office for nearly 8 years, how much of a substantial impact can he have on cross-strait and Sino-US relations? Is it worthy for the Chinese Communist Party to give him such high-level reception?
To answer this question, one must combine the propaganda focus of the CCP’s official media and consider the current domestic situation in China to provide a reasonable explanation.
On April 10, CCTV’s website published an article titled “Xi Jinping Meets with Ma Ying-jeou Delegation,” accompanied by extensive on-site photos, reporting on the Xi-Ma meeting. In this more than 1800-word report, Ma Ying-jeou’s part was briefly mentioned in less than one hundred words. In other words, in this orchestrated drama directed by Beijing, Ma Ying-jeou merely played a supporting role, acting as a pawn.
Moving on to official comments, People’s Daily published a special commentary on April 13, titled “Grasp the Overall Situation of Cross-Strait Relations and Continue to Write the New Brilliance of the Chinese Nation’s History,” two days after Ma Ying-jeou returned to Taiwan. All major official media outlets, such as Xinhua News Agency, Guangming Daily, China.com, and China Taiwan.com, reprinted the full text of this commentary.
What’s more interesting is that this article, nearly 2500 words long, extensively quoted Xi Jinping’s speech during the meeting with Ma Ying-jeou but didn’t mention Ma Ying-jeou’s name or the “1992 Consensus.” The article only stated that it was Xi Jinping’s first meeting with Taiwan compatriots and important speech after the 19th National Congress of the CCP.
Undoubtedly, in this article, Ma Ying-jeou became the representative of Taiwan compatriots in the CCP’s official propaganda.
This article was published after Ma Ying-jeou left the mainland, indicating that the true readers of this official commentary are the people inside China. This means that Ma Ying-jeou himself and how Taiwanese society view the Xi-Ma meeting are not important, brainwashing the Chinese people is the main goal.
Looking at the title of this article, the purpose of Beijing’s grand reception of Ma Ying-jeou is to “Continue to Write the New Brilliance of the Chinese Nation’s History.” The words “continue to write” reveal Beijing’s true intention in grandly receiving Ma Ying-jeou: the CCP wants to use Ma Ying-jeou as a representative of “Taiwan compatriots” to highlight its position as the legitimate heir of the Chinese cultural tradition.
In 2023, China’s economy took a significant downturn. Investment, domestic demand, and exports, the three major economic engines, came to a halt, and the stock market, property market, currency market, and bond market all suffered a severe blow. The top leaders in Beijing were at a loss.
The economic downturn resulted in the increasingly unattainable promises made by the CCP over the years, such as the “rise of the East and the decline of the West” and the “community of shared future for mankind.” For officials who had to take pay cuts, middle-class families trapped by property prices, and young people graduating from universities but unable to find jobs, the slogan of “national rejuvenation” was losing its appeal.
Even some former CCP enthusiasts started discussing emigration.
Meanwhile, the military provocations by the CCP in the East China Sea, South China Sea, especially in the Taiwan Strait, were becoming more frequent. If you are one of the aforementioned groups facing a pile of unresolved real-life issues every day, wouldn’t the aggressive actions by the government and the military leave you perplexed?
What’s even more puzzling to the mainland society is the outcome of the Taiwan election this year. Despite the CCP mobilizing all its propaganda machinery, constantly proclaiming that “choosing Lai Qingde means choosing war,” the Taiwanese people expressed strong support for Lai Qingde with their votes. This was also a rejection of the CCP’s “one country, two systems” proposition.
The result of the Taiwan election this year has awakened more Chinese people from the grand dream of rejuvenation!
However, this dream represents the cornerstone of the CCP’s road and policies in the Xi Jinping era. Therefore, to prevent this dream from bankruptcy, what the CCP urgently needs is a brainwashing show that can enter into concrete operation without spending too much money. In official terms, it requires conducting a patriotism education for the entire society. Thus, the Xi-Ma meeting, in such a major environment, coordinated by Xi Jinping himself, was a brainwashing operation for Chinese society.
The goal of this show is to have Ma Ying-jeou represent the “Republic of China” and acknowledge the CCP as the legitimate heir of the Chinese cultural tradition.
Of course, the CCP is unlikely to reveal its true intentions to Ma Ying-jeou.
In recent years, the CCP has been continuously promoting the so-called “Chinese Dream of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” This concept traces back to Sun Yat-sen’s slogan “revitalize China,” which was the purpose of the Revive China Society founded by Sun Yat-sen. Sun Yat-sen later became the President of the Republic of China.
Moreover, the idea of establishing China as a nation-state from the Chinese nation was first proposed by Liang Qichao. The term “Chinese nation” was also coined by Liang Qichao. After the success of the 1911 Revolution, Liang Qichao served as the Minister of Finance of the Republic of China. Even many first-generation leaders of the CCP such as Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, etc., had joined the government of the Republic of China and participated in the struggle for revitalizing China. That’s why the leaders of the CCP refer to Sun Yat-sen as the Father of the Nation.
It is evident that if the CCP wants to achieve its rejuvenation dream, it cannot avoid the Republic of China. That’s why during the National Day military parade in China, the formation led by Sun Yat-sen’s portrait was at the forefront. The dilemma now is that the Republic of China has been driven out by the CCP and sent to Taiwan.
In other words, the existence of the Republic of China is telling the grassroots of Chinese society that the path to the great rejuvenation dream of reviving China should rightfully belong to Taiwan. That’s how it was in the past, that’s how it is now, and that’s how it should be in the future.
How can the current CCP leader cope with this reality?
Therefore, Ma Ying-jeou, a former president of the Republic of China who has been out of office for nearly 8 years, has become valuable in the eyes of the CCP.
Ma Ying-jeou is the democratically elected president of Taiwanese society, and although he is no longer in office, he still holds some connection to public opinion. Having him represent the people of Taiwan to endorse the CCP’s “rejuvenation dream” is the motivation behind the CCP orchestrating the Xi-Ma meeting.
Unfortunately, Ma Ying-jeou’s two slips of the tongue, mistaking the “Chinese nation” for the “Republic of China,” and then correcting himself, turned what should have been a straightforward and upright statement into a dubious performance.
In such a display by a democratically elected former president with a Doctor of Law degree, who is the biggest beneficiary: the Republic or the CCP?