Ex-Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou to visit China

In a press release on Wednesday, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation CEO Hsiao Hsu-tsen said Ma would lead a group of Taiwanese students to China on a nine-day trip from December 18-26, at the invitation of the Chinese side, as per Focus Taiwan.

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, show Ma's efforts to foster exchanges among young people from Taiwan and China, and promote peace between the two sides, Hsiao said, as per Focus Taiwan.

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," as per Focus Taiwan.

Commenting on the matter during a press briefing on Wednesday in Beijing, Zhu Fenglian, 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, as per Focus Taiwan.

The visit's announcement came within a week after around 40 students and faculty members from seven Chinese universities finished their nine-day tour of Taiwan arranged by Ma's foundation, as per Focus Taiwan.

Earlier on December 8, The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) stated that the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation could face a ban of six months to five years for inviting Chinese delegations to Taiwan due to its improper handling of an incident involving a Chinese student group.

In a December 1 interview, a member of the group, which was invited by the foundation established by former President Ma Ying-jeou for a nine-day exchange trip, referred to Taiwan's national baseball team officially known as "Chinese Taipei" as the "China Taipei team" while congratulating them on their victory in the WBSC Premier12 Championship, Central News Agency (CNA) reported. (ANI)