Taiwan faces choice of 'peace or war', ex-leader Ma says

STORY: "Our administration continues to lead Taiwan to danger. The future is a choice between peace or war," Ma told reporters at Taiwan's main airport after arriving from Shanghai at the end of his 12-day visit to China.

Ma also reaffirmed his support for the "1992 Consensus", an agreement reached that year which deems Taiwan and China part of one China, a cherished principle in Beijing, but allows each side to interpret what that means. Incumbent Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen refuses to recognise the agreement.

Ma is the first former Taiwanese president to ever visit China. Since the defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong's communists, no serving island leader has visited China. His visit came at a time of heightened tension with China's anger roused this week by a meeting between Tsai and U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, during a stopover by the Taiwan leader in the United States.