Ma Ying-jeou, the previous Taiwanese president who made historical past by assembly with Chinese language counterpart Xi Jinping in 2015, reportedly plans to interrupt new diplomatic floor once more by making an unprecedented journey to the mainland later this month.

Ma will journey to China from March 27 to April 7 and go to the cities of Nanjing, Wuhan, Changsha, Chongqing and Shanghai, his workplace confirmed to Reuters on Sunday. His representatives didn’t disclose whether or not he intends to fulfill with Xi or another Chinese language authorities officers throughout the journey.

The go to will mark the primary journey to the mainland by a present or former Taiwanese chief since Chiang Kai-shek’s supporters fled to the island in 1949. Chiang held his final assembly with Mao Zedong, chief of the Chinese language communist revolution, in 1945. Then-President Ma and Xi held their historic 2015 summit in Singapore, looking for to ease tensions and increase cooperation.

Since Ma’s successor, Tsai Ing-wen, took workplace in 2016, relations between the self-governing island and Beijing have deteriorated. China, which considers Taiwan to be a breakaway province and nonetheless a part of its sovereign territory, has vowed to reunify with the island. The US authorities acknowledges, however doesn’t endorse, China’s declare to Taiwan below the so-called ‘One China’ coverage.

Nevertheless, tensions within the Taiwan Strait have escalated since final August, when then-US Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi defied warnings from Beijing and went by way of with a deliberate go to to Taipei. China responded by ramping up army drills round Taiwan and slicing off army and local weather ties with Washington. The Taiwanese Protection Ministry warned earlier this month of a doable “whole blockade” of the Taiwan Strait by Chinese language forces.

Ma stays a senior member of Taiwan’s Kuomintang (KMT) opposition social gathering. The KMT has historically opposed pushes for full Taiwanese independence and has sought peaceable relations with China. KMT deputy chairman Andrew Hsia visited Beijing final month and met with Wang Huning, a senior Chinese language Communist Get together chief.

Tsai’s ruling Democratic Progressive Get together, which has accused the KMT of looking for to promote out Taiwan, condemned Hsia for going to “pay courtroom to the communists.” The present president additionally blocked Ma’s deliberate journey to Hong Kong in 2016, citing safety issues, and he was pressured to present his speech on cross-strait relations through teleconference.

Ma will go to websites related to World Warfare II and the 1911 revolution that ousted the final Chinese language emperor and launched the Republic of China, his workplace stated.