TAIPEI (TVBS News) — A Japanese senior media figure criticized former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Thursday (Oct. 10) for his decision to skip Taiwan's National Day ceremony, suggesting it aligns with China and diminishes Taiwan.
Yaita Akio (矢板明夫) also shared insights into the political dynamics observed during the event.
To begin with, Yaita highlighted Vice President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) positive interaction with Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), expressing hope that such cooperation could ease legislative tensions and restore rational political discourse in Taiwan.
Also, Yaita noted former President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) singing the national anthem together, interpreting it as a gesture of goodwill towards Taiwan's "pro-Republic of China" faction.
Yaita further observed that Ma's decision to skip the ceremony stemmed from his dissatisfaction with Lai's "new two-state theory," which asserts that the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China are not subordinate to each other.
Yaita described Ma's actions as nearly aligning with China and undermining Taiwan. He then praised Lai's National Day speech for clearly depicting cross-strait relations and Taiwan's future direction.