Ma Ying-jeou Quotes

12th and 13th President of Republic of China(Taiwan)

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Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九; Mǎ Yīngjiǔ; born 13 July 1950) is a politician in Taiwan (Republic of China). He served as the President of the Republic of China from 20 May 2008 to 20 May 2016.

Bio from: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Native Name: 馬英九

Alternative Names: Ma Ying-chiu • Ma Yingjiu

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We have no reason to be pessimistic about the (cross-strait service trade) agreement or to be afraid of its impact. The government will try its best to minimize possible damage and maximize the business opportunities the agreement can create.

Anyone who embraces the Republic of China with all of their heart definitely does not support the Taiwan independence movement.

I think mutual denial of each other’s sovereignty (between ROC and PRC) and mutual non-denial of respective jurisdictions would be more appropriate, but any proposal has its pros and cons, and I think it’s up for discussion.

Since 1949, China has been temporarily divided, and each side of the Taiwan Strait is administered by a separate political entity. This is an objective reality.

This (Taiwanese fisherman shot by Philippines coast guard incident) is not a problem between the people of Taiwan and the people of the Philippines. This is a problem between the people of Taiwan and the Philippine administration.

They (opposition) say we are selling out Taiwan and that we lost something, but they never say what exactly we have lost.

There will be no national flags or other kinds of flags designed to specify cross-strait relations inside or outside the offices because we are not foreign nations to each other.

President Tsai will end up with a legacy of broken diplomatic relations if she keeps implementing wrongheaded policies like condemning (mainland) China without ever reflecting upon herself.

The mistakes of history might be gradually forgotten, but historical truth cannot be forgotten, since forgetting history could lead to the recurrence of the same mistakes.

It is impossible for us to recognize (mainland China) as another nation within our (Republic of China) territory.

Not everyone understands this. But we (ROC government) have done what needed to be done, and we will keep doing so until the very end.

We must actively engage in regional economic integration, as Taiwan is an island with few natural resources and a relatively small economy. Taiwan had signed very few free-trade agreements in the past. How can we not be in a hurry to catch up?

Our relationship with mainland China is very subtle. We don’t have a state-to-state relationship and we do not view mainland China as a foreign state.

The military should learn a lesson from the incident and correct its mistakes immediately after a review of its system. We must restore the people’s faith in the military.

The timing and conditions are ripe for the two sides to set up representative offices (ARATS in Taiwan and SEF in Mainland China). There are no political implications to the plan and the functions of the offices will be basically neutral.