As Taiwan prepares for a knife-edge election, former president Ma Ying-jeou has made a dramatic call for a rethink of Taiwan’s whole approach to the threat of Chinese invasion. In this exclusive DW interview, Ma said attempts to deter China from attacking Taiwan would not work. “No matter how much you defend yourself, you can never fight a war with the mainland. You can never win. They're too large, much stronger than us.”
Ma also cast doubt on whether the United States would come to Taiwan’s aid if China invaded – despite US President Joe Biden repeatedly saying he would do so. Ma added that he believed Taiwan could work with China’s President Xi Jinping and said that “we have to” trust Xi on relations across the Taiwan Strait. Ma called for a return to his friendly approach to China as president from 2008-16. “We should use a non-use of military means to reduce the tension,” he said. Speaking to DW’s Richard Walker and Tsou Tzung-han, Ma blamed Taiwan’s current DPP government for the intense tensions with China. He added that in the long term, “unification” of Taiwan with China might be possible – but only if achieved peacefully and democratically.
Chapters:
00:00 Taiwan's former president Ma Ying-jeou
01:03 WAR AND PEACE
09:09 DETERRING CHINA
11:02 MILITARY SERVICE
11:52 TAIWAN'S DEFENSE SPENDING
14:30 INVASION SCENARIO
16:06 WOULD THE US HELP TAIWAN?
18:30 DIALOG WITH CHINA
20:45 TRUSTING XI JINPING
23:00 UNIFICATION WITH CHINA?
25:10 UNIFICATION VS INDEPENDENCE
26:45 NANCY PELOSI VISIT TO TAIWAN
28:35 CHINA AND THE US: NEW COLD WAR?
30:12 TAIWAN IN THE MIDDLE?
31:28 XI VS STATUS QUO
33:52 CHINAS THREAT OF FORCE
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#Taiwan #China #MaYing-jeou
Ma also cast doubt on whether the United States would come to Taiwan’s aid if China invaded – despite US President Joe Biden repeatedly saying he would do so. Ma added that he believed Taiwan could work with China’s President Xi Jinping and said that “we have to” trust Xi on relations across the Taiwan Strait. Ma called for a return to his friendly approach to China as president from 2008-16. “We should use a non-use of military means to reduce the tension,” he said. Speaking to DW’s Richard Walker and Tsou Tzung-han, Ma blamed Taiwan’s current DPP government for the intense tensions with China. He added that in the long term, “unification” of Taiwan with China might be possible – but only if achieved peacefully and democratically.
Chapters:
00:00 Taiwan's former president Ma Ying-jeou
01:03 WAR AND PEACE
09:09 DETERRING CHINA
11:02 MILITARY SERVICE
11:52 TAIWAN'S DEFENSE SPENDING
14:30 INVASION SCENARIO
16:06 WOULD THE US HELP TAIWAN?
18:30 DIALOG WITH CHINA
20:45 TRUSTING XI JINPING
23:00 UNIFICATION WITH CHINA?
25:10 UNIFICATION VS INDEPENDENCE
26:45 NANCY PELOSI VISIT TO TAIWAN
28:35 CHINA AND THE US: NEW COLD WAR?
30:12 TAIWAN IN THE MIDDLE?
31:28 XI VS STATUS QUO
33:52 CHINAS THREAT OF FORCE
Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/user/deutschewelleenglish?sub_confirmation=1
For more news go to: http://www.dw.com/en/
Follow DW on social media:
►Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deutschewellenews/
►Twitter: https://twitter.com/dwnews
►Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dwnews
►Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/dwnews_hangout
Für Videos in deutscher Sprache besuchen Sie: https://www.youtube.com/dwdeutsch
#Taiwan #China #MaYing-jeou