China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said in a statement: “The mainland’s attitude on a meeting between leaders from both sides of the Taiwan Strait is positive and consistent”.
Advertisement
Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, was the first choice of Taiwan as a venue for the historic summit between the island’s President Massachusetts Ying-jeou and Xi Jinping, according to a Taiwanese official.
Top leaders from the two camps haven’t met since Mao Zedong and then-KMT leader Chiang Kai-shek raised their glasses to toast the defeat of the Japanese in 1945 before resuming their civil war. As political disputes are yet to be fully resolved, the two sides have made pragmatic arrangements based on the one-China principle to make this meeting possible, showcasing political wisdom as well as a honorable and responsible attitude.
Ma’s relatively Beijing-friendly Kuomintang is widely expected to lose to the more China-skeptic Democratic Progressive Party.
Beijing views Taiwan as a rogue province, and the last remnant of a civil war that pitted Chinese communists against the nationalist, right-wing Kuomintang party.
Political experts said China could be working to shape the result of the elections by trying to show that ties would continue to improve if Taiwan remains ruled by the KMT. This in turn was bolstered by the acknowledgment that the status quo across the Taiwan Strait needed to be maintained by adhering to no declaration of independence, no unilateral efforts towards unification and no use of force. The Nationalists called Taiwan the Republic of China and vowed to retake the mainland one day.
In the United States, White House spokesman John Earnest welcomed the news. With Chinese President Ma’s stint in office since he won the elections in 2008, relations with Taiwan had greatly improved.
Washington officially sticks to a “one China” policy, acknowledging Taiwan being part of China and the PRC’s status as the sole legitimate government of China.
China has resisted whatever could be understood to be giving equivalent standing to Taiwan and contact of any sort between both sides has been extremely limited, he says.
Wang Jin-pyng, head of Taiwan’s legislature, said the legislature supports any cross-Strait dialogue that is conducive to regional peace and stability, and expects the meeting a success.
His discussions with Xi could help reduce hostilities in the short term, Massachusetts said, adding he hoped future leaders of Taiwan would be able to hold such meetings.
That culminated in the first direct presidential election in 1996, accompanied by Chinese attempts to intimidate voters with missile firings that were ultimately counterproductive.
Lee won the election by a landslide. China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since 1949.
Advertisement
But even as its trade and tourism ties have grown during Ma’s time in office, Taiwan’s economy has continued to struggle and there have been growing questions about just how much the island is benefiting from closer engagement with China.
