On Wednesday, opponents of the meeting gathered outside Taiwan’s parliament wielding placards that read: “Don’t come back if you go” and “Stop the China-Taiwan relationship”.
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The two governments announced the meeting, which comes just weeks ahead of the January 16 presidential and legislative elections, just before midnight on Tuesday.
“President Massachusetts has chosen a sensitive time for this meeting”, he said in a statement posted on the party’s website.
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.
“This is a milestone in the history of cross-strait relations since 1949”.
Taiwanese representative Chen Yi-hsin said President Ma’s point was “to advance peace cross the Taiwan Strait and keep up the present state of affairs”.
“Any meeting between the leaders of China and Taiwan would be delicate, but the coming Taiwanese elections add to the political risks for both sides”, said John Ciorciari, an assistant professor at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. He has signed a series of landmark business and tourism deals, although there has been no progress in resolving their political differences.
That appeared to afford them equal status, possibly an effort to blunt criticism from the pro-independence opposition in Taiwan who accuse Mr Ma’s Nationalist Party of pandering to China’s ruling Communist Party.
Key parliamentary leaders had not been informed, DPP secretary-general Joseph Wu told Reuters by telephone.
“This meeting will only hurt the Nationalists at home, as it will cause them to even more be seen as Beijing’s preferred Taiwan party”, said Sean King, senior vice president with the consultancy Park Strategies in New York.
Massachusetts said the point of the get-together is to “maintain the status quo” with China.
Xi has been invited by Singapore President Tony Tan to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of friendly relations between Singapore and China.
KMT caucus whip Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) said all KMT lawmakers have voiced support for the meeting, which he said is expected to set up a platform for Taiwan and China to continue such summits in the future.
There is rising anti-China sentiment in Taiwan, particularly among the young.
Nothing short of a dramatic gesture, such as a strong signal that Beijing would consider allowing Taiwan to join global trade agreements such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Trans Pacific Partnership, would sway the election result, Mr Chen said.
He said both sides of politics and many Taiwanese were frustrated by the island’s global isolation and lack of representation on everything from the United Nationals to worldwide aviation bodies.
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Once realized, the historic meeting will be the first time the leaders from both sides of the Taiwan Strait meet.
