President Xi Jinping of China, and the leader of Taiwan, Massachusetts Ying-jeou, will meet on Saturday in Singapore, the first such meeting since the Chinese Communist revolution of 1949 and the retreat of the Chinese nationalists across the Taiwan Strait.
Advertisement
This combination of file photos shows Taiwan President Massachusetts Ying-jeou, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Taiwan’s ruling party – which has overseen an increasingly closer relationship with Beijing under Mr Massachusetts – suffered its worst ever local election defeat a year ago, with many observers saying its policies towards Beijing were a factor.
It’s the first presidential-level summit between Taiwan – the official name of which is the Republic of China – and the People’s Republic of China at any point during the island’s six-decade split from the mainland.
“This is a pragmatic arrangement made in accordance with the one-China principle under the situation where the political dispute across the Taiwan Strait has yet to be resolved”, Zhang added.
Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, described the talks as a “breakthrough in face-to-face exchange and communication between the two leaders across the Taiwan Strait after hardships and twists since 1949”. President Ma’s Kuomintang nationalist party, led by Chiang Kai-shek, fled to Taiwan after losing the Chinese civil war in 1949.
“A meeting of the leaders of the two sides across the strait is a great event, involving the dignity and national interests of Taiwan”.
Nevertheless, correspondents say growing anxieties over the influence in China has caused widespread discontent in Taiwan.
Chinese and Taiwanese heads of state will meet face to face for the first time in well over 60 years. He would not sign any agreements, nor issue any joint statements with China, it added.
“The focus of the meeting is to consolidate peace, and reiterate to maintain the current peace and stability across the Straits based on the 1992 Consensus”. Later, the two leaders are expected to attend a dinner, said Zhang.
Protesters began to gather outside Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan and nearby the Presidential Office just hours after the meeting was announced.
The historic meeting comes as public sentiment in Taiwan has turned against closer relations as fears over Beijing’s influence grow.
“Any interaction between the two sides can only happen when it will benefit the country’s free and democratic development as well as regional stabilisation”, it said in a statement.
Taiwan’s main opposition Democratic Progressive Party or DPP, which traditionally favors independence, slammed what it said was a lack of transparency about the meeting.
The head of Taiwan’s top China policy decision-making body, the Mainland Affairs Council, will hold a press conference Wednesday where more details will be released as to the significance of the meeting.
Advertisement
Lee won the election by a landslide.
