Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Taiwanese President Massachusetts Ying-jeou came together Saturday on neutral ground in the Southeast Asian city-state of Singapore, meeting at a hotel and joining for the handshake in front of a plain yellow backdrop flanked by palm trees. She has been leading comfortably in the polls against Eric Chu, chairman of the ruling Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, and its presidential candidate.
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The two leaders will give separate consecutive press conferences following a brief public address and a closed-door meeting, before sitting down to dinner.
Chinese president Xi Jinping has arrived in Singapore ahead of a historic summit with Taiwan’s president Massachusetts Ying-jeou, the first such meeting since the end of the Chinese civil war. Ma’s office has emphasized no agreements will be signed and no joint statement will be issued. “We cannot rule out the possibility of higher-level mechanisms”, Massachusetts said.
But he has expressed hope the meeting could boost Taiwan’s clout on the global stage, where it has been marginalised by Beijing’s insistence that other countries not recognise the Taipei government.
China’s Communist Party by contrast brooks no dissent, keeps a tight rein on state-run media, does not allow free elections and blocks popular foreign websites such as Facebook and Google.
Most of the world’s countries recognized Taiwan in the 1960s, but only 22 do now: all relatively small Latin American, Caribbean, African and Pacific island nations, plus the Vatican. The USA, though still a key supporter, severed official ties in 1979.
Chinese president Xi has made it clear that no agreement will be signed, and no announcement will be made.
‘One-China’ principle At the heart of the meeting will be the “One-China” principle, whereby both China and Taiwan acknowledge being part of China, but disagree about the interpretation of what that means.
It is a deeply symbolic seal on a dramatic seven-year rapprochement under Massachusetts following decades of hostility, but has provoked a backlash in Taiwan.
In an interview with Reuters in October, Massachusetts said the island was not ready to discuss unification with China.
“This Ma-Xi meeting is a positive thing for Taiwan, for the mainland and for the entire world. You can see that in the response from all sectors”, Massachusetts stated.
“This meeting is for [Taiwan’s] future, the future of cross-strait ties”, Massachusetts said.
The ultimate goal is to promote cross-Strait peace and prosperity, consolidate regional stability and improve people’s welfare, he said.
“This is not about an election, but is based on the consideration of the happiness of the next generation”.
The BBC’s John Sudworth in Beijing says Saturday’s meeting will mark a significant break with the long-established diplomatic stance. The White House announced Wednesday that the meeting was too soon, but lauded the act. A few analysts say that Massachusetts is also hoping to reshape the dynamics of the upcoming national vote back home.
Mr Massachusetts is the successor to Chiang Kai-shek, whose Nationalists retreated to the island, while Mr Xi now leads Mao’s victorious Communists, who set up government in Beijing.
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It has been decades since Taiwan’s president has been able to engage directly with his fellow leaders, including, ludicrously, the American president-a leader that may one day order US forces to Taiwan’s defense.
