Former President Ma Ying-jeou says he is stunned and disappointed that a recent application for permission to travel to Hong Kong was rejected.
Ma left office on May 20. In January, before he left office, Ma was invited to speak on June 15 at an event in Hong Kong hosted by a publisher’s association. The topic of his speech was to be the state of cross-strait relations after his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping last year.
According to Taiwan’s Classified National Security Information Protection Act, Ma needs approval from the current administration in order to leave the country. That’s because presidents have access to classified information during their tenure. The application was not approved, in part because Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of Mainland China and therefore seen as sensitive.
In the end, Ma delivered his address in a video played at the publishers’ event.
On Thursday, Ma held a press conference where he expressed his disappointment at the decision. He said that having a former president build connections between Taiwan and Hong Kong would have been good for both sides.
Ma said that he supports the requirement that former presidents get approval for travel outside of Taiwan. But at the same time, he said that having access to classified information does not imply divulging classified information. Ma said that this kind of presumption of guilt could harm Taiwan’s freedom and democracy.