Taiwan’s top China policy maker Andrew Hsia says it’s unfair to demand an apology from President Ma Ying-jeou over his remarks made during the closed-door Ma-Xi meeting last Saturday.
Hsia is the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) minister and was speaking at the legislature on Tuesday.
During the meeting, President Ma told Chinese leader Xi Jinping that China’s deployment of missiles aimed at Taiwan “has often been used by the opposition as an excuse to criticize cross-strait ties.” Ma asked Xi to take concrete and friendly actions towards Taiwan to avoid unnecessary criticism.
On Tuesday, opposition lawmakers said the MAC should suggest that the president issue an open apology and backtrack on his comments.
They said China’s deployment of missiles is aimed at the Taiwanese people, regardless of political affiliations. They also said that the public expects that China remove its missiles.
Opposition lawmakers also accused the president of bowing to pressure from China and failing to give a retort when the Chinese leader said the missiles “are not aimed at the Taiwanese people.”