Former Taiwan President's Controversial Peacebuilding Trip to China

Former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, the first former or current Taiwanese president to visit China since 1949, said that people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are ethnically Chinese and share the same ancestor. Ma's visit is part of outreach by Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang, to China in hopes of reducing tensions. Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party has criticised the visit, which comes amid heightened tension as Beijing uses political and military means to try and pressure democratically governed Taiwan into accepting Chinese sovereignty.