Former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou landed in Shanghai on Monday afternoon, the primary former chief of the self-ruled island to take action in practically seven a long time, in a go to that he mentioned was an effort to “decrease heightened political and army rigidity between the 2 sides”.

Ma’s 12-day go to to China will coincide with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s go to later this week to Belize and Guatemala in Central America and two stopovers in New York and Los Angeles, a go to that’s set to set off offended responses from Beijing.

The Democratic Progressive Celebration (DPP), Tsai’s ruling get together, has referred to as Ma’s go to “regrettable”.

Ma’s tour has additionally been criticised in his nation because it comes a day after the Central American nation of Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favour of Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island as a part of its territory and has vowed to merge it someday with the mainland, if needed by drive.

Beijing has escalated army, financial and diplomatic stress on Taiwan since present President Tsai got here to energy in 2016, luring 9 of Taiwan’s allies, leaving the island with solely 13 international locations that now diplomatically recognise the island.

Beijing has additionally held giant scale struggle video games round Taiwan final yr and earlier this yr and its air drive often buzzes the island with fighter jets and bombers.

“I hope to enhance the cross-strait ambiance by means of the enthusiastic interactions of younger individuals, so peace can come to us sooner and sooner,” the 73-year-old mentioned on the airport earlier than his departure, in response to an AFP report from Taipei.

“Other than going to make choices to my ancestors, I’m additionally taking Taiwan college college students to the mainland for exchanges with them, hoping to enhance the present cross-strait ambiance by means of the passion and interplay of younger individuals, so peace can come even sooner and sooner to us right here,” he mentioned.

Ma arrived in Shanghai on Monday afternoon and was met on the airport by central authorities and metropolis officers, China’s official Xinhua information company reported.

“Former Taiwan chief Ma Ying-jeou arrived in Shanghai Monday afternoon after which left for the japanese metropolis of Nanjing,” the Xinhua report mentioned.

“Ma can pay respects to his ancestors on the event of the Qingming Pageant, or Tomb-sweeping Day, and lead a gaggle of Taiwan college students for communication and change actions. His itinerary will embody Nanjing, Wuhan, Changsha, Chongqing and Shanghai,” the Xinhua report added.

Ma was Taiwan’s president from 2008 to 2016 and continues to be a heavyweight within the now-opposition Kuomintang (KMT).

Chinese language overseas ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, provided no touch upon Ma’s go to, saying it was “not a diplomatic situation,” on the common ministry briefing on Monday.