TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) returned from a 12-day trip to China Friday (April 7) with a warning that Taiwan was moving closer to danger, while facing accusations he was still living in the past.

His voyage was the first visit by a former president of Taiwan to China, and coincided with President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) visit to allies Guatemala and Belize and a historic meeting with United States House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

During his March 27-April 7 trip, Ma paid a visit to his ancestors’ graves in Hunan Province, but also met with Communist Party officials, including Song Tao (宋濤), the new director of the Cabinet-level Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO).

Comments including praise for China’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic met with sharp criticism back in Taiwan. Also, the former president was seen as too timid with the use of his title of former president of the “Republic of China,” Taiwan’s official name.

Speaking to the media at Taoyuan International Airport Friday, Ma accused Tsai’s government of presiding over an escalation of tension with China, adding Taiwan would have to choose between war and peace in the future, according to a report by Reuters. The country faces presidential and legislative elections in January 2024, with Tsai reaching the end of her second and final term.

Ma, who ruled from 2008 to 2016, said both Taiwan and China formed part of a single China, though with different political systems, per CNA. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) accused Ma of living in the past and of advocating discredited formulas from the 1970s.