Massachusetts Ying-jeou has made improving relations with China, especially in economic matters, a centerpiece of his presidency since 2008.
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“No agreement will be signed, nor any joint statement released”, Chen said in a statement.
The Chinese government has been threatening to use force since 2005 if Taiwan attempts to gain independence.
Negotiations between the two sides have also hit a snag on the political and commercial fronts.
Yet Saturday’s meeting could also boost the Nationalists’ credentials for driving progress in relations with China and heading off past threats and hostility from Beijing that rattled many Taiwanese. “There was no inkling on any side that this was coming”, he said.
To avoid the risk of a protocol problem over the title “President”, Xinhua cited Zhang as saying that the two leaders will call each other “Mister”.
Taiwan’s Premier Mao Chi-kuo is due to brief lawmakers Wednesday about the summit and the Presidential Office’s secretary-general Tseng Yung-chuan will later address legislators.
Both China and Taiwan have good ties with Singapore.
Asked if it was true that he only learned of the Singapore meeting late on Tuesday night, Wang said yes.
According to retired Shandong University professor Sun Wenguang, closer ties between Taiwan and the mainland have previously come through private and non-government channels.
Zheng Zhenqing at Beijing’s Tsinghua University Institute of Taiwan Studies said it was wrong to link the meeting directly to the election but that it did underscore a determination to get Taiwan to recognise the “one China” principle.
Nevertheless, correspondents say growing anxieties over the influence in China has caused widespread discontent in Taiwan.
The KMT suffered a devastating defeat in local elections a year ago, a effect which was broadly considered a rejection of President Ma’s drive for closer ties.
Xi will hold talks with Taiwan’s Massachusetts Ying-jeou in Singapore on Saturday, Taiwan’s Central News Agency and China’s state-run People’s Daily newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Soon after Chen’s statement, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters that Washington encourages dialogues between Taipei and Beijing.
“We would certainly welcome steps that are taken on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to try to reduce tensions and improve cross-strait relations”, Earnest said.
In recent years, there has been rising public discontent with the ruling KMT – the party Massachusetts belongs to – and its perceived pro-Beijing stance. Tsai Ing-wen, chairwoman of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, visited the United States in May.
Party chairman Eric Chu was endorsed as the KMT’s new contender after members voted against Hung Hsiu-chu representing them at the polls, following concern that her conservative views fly in the face of public sentiment. The elections are scheduled for January 16.
“This is a milestone in the history of cross-strait relations since 1949”, a MFA statement added. He said the summit can provide “leadership momentum” to help iron out disagreements such as the passenger transit and representative office issues.
The meeting will take place in Singapore.
He had hoped to meet Xi at an APEC meeting in Beijing in November but said China had refused.
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“(Xi and Ma) will exchange views on the issues such as promoting the peace across the straits and maintaining the status quo across the straits.
