Former Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou visits China

Taiwan's former Prime Minister Ma Ying-jeou is making a controversial trip to China. The visit comes less than two months before Taiwan inaugurates its new leader. And as tensions with China rise, reports suggest Ma will make history by meeting Xi Jinping. Our Asia correspondent Stash Butler files this report from Taipei's main airport. It's a second potentially history-making visit to China for Taiwan's ex-president. Last year, Ma Ying-jeou became the first former leader of Taiwan to set foot on the mainland in almost 75 years. Now as China continues to threaten invasion, he is back with what he says is a message of peace. I hope that as the current cross-strait situation becomes increasingly tense, we can convey the voice of the Taiwanese people, who love peace and hope to avoid war. This trip is both a journey of peace and a journey of friendship. Media reports suggest Ma, of Taiwan's opposition KMT, will meet China's leader Xi Jinping in Beijing. Ma and Xi have met once before, in 2015 in Singapore, but this time would be the first of its kind on Chinese soil since the Chinese Civil War. In Ma's eyes, a victory for peaceful dialogue with the People's Republic of China. It's important to keep in mind that he is not an elected politician and that Ma Ying-jeou currently does not have any actual political power in Taiwan. He is certainly an important leader in the KMT and one of the key links that the KMT has to the PRC, but he himself cannot write, change or enact any sort of policy. But Ma's critics accuse him of bowing to China's claim of sovereignty over Taiwan, while Beijing keeps flying warplanes and sailing battleships nearby on an almost daily basis. Those critics include Taiwan's president-elect, Lai Ching-de, who's due to take office in just seven weeks. Ma's strong pro-unification views put him at odds with most of Taiwan's 23 million people. But with a new leader in Taipei and an election due in a crucial ally in the US, Ma's visit comes at a time of uncertainty for this self-ruled island.