The China Post news staff
But as the opposition Kuomintang presidential candidate wrapped up another three-day visit to Japan Friday, he seemed to have won converts among "power brokers" there, according to Kyoto News Agency.
One of the many signs that Tokyo is warming to Ma was a secret meeting that took place between the Kuomintang (KMT) front-runner and "multiple Japanese government officials" Thursday, a meeting that ranks as a first, Kyoto quoted a source in Ma's entourage as saying.
That Tokyo would risk a row with China by allowing Cabinet officials to meet a Taiwanese presidential candidate speaks volumes about Japan's attitude toward Ma.
It would appear Tokyo attaches great importance to Ma and his ideas for boosting relations, as potentially Taiwan's next president.
"I was able to meet everybody I wanted to meet," Ma said at a Tokyo news conference Friday. "My policy proposals for Taiwan-Japan relations . . . received a positive reception, I felt."
Ma is running a competitive race against ruling DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh as the March election approaches. Hsieh, who obtained a doctorate from Kyoto University, is scheduled to arrive in Tokyo Dec. 16 for a four-day visit.
The KMT, which identifies strongly with Chinese culture and nationalism, has traditionally fared poorly in wooing Tokyo. Ma hopes to improve relations as Japan becomes a more important trading and strategic partner for Taiwan.
"I've changed my mind about Mr. Ma," said Lower House member Takeo Hiranuma after meeting Ma on Thursday. "I think his proposals are good."
Behind Ma's improved reception in Tokyo are his vows to improve Taipei-Tokyo ties while maintaining the status quo in the Taiwan Strait -- a possible global flashpoint that would likely impact Japan.
If elected, Ma said he would seek a free-trade agreement with Japan, increase tourism between the two countries and attract more students to Taiwanese universities.
The proposals evoked smiles and nods from such political heavyweights as Hiroyuki Hosoda of the LDP, Yukio Hatoyama of the DPJ, and former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori during their meetings.
Ma assured his hosts that he would avoid confrontation with China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory.
"I will resume negotiations with the mainland. I will reduce tension in the Taiwan Strait. I will be a peacemaker, not a troublemaker," he said. He said he would return to the policy that there was only one China, with Beijing and Taipei agreeing to disagree on who represented it.
Ma used his three-day visit to Japan to end suspicion that he was anti-Japanese. "I'm not anti-Japanese, not pro-Japanese. But I'm trying to understand the Japanese."
Ma took part in a campaign in the early 1970s to demand the return of the Diaoyutai islet group, known as the Senkaku islands in Japan. China also claims the islets. He has stressed that the Diaoyutai issue, like all issues involving competing sovereignty claims, should be solved in a peaceful manner, via negotiation, mediation and arbitration. He didn't compare Diaoyutai with Japan's Northern Islands, which are now Russia's territory. Tokyo seems to appreciate it.