The Ma-Xi meeting will be a history-making event, as the top leaders of Taiwan and China have never met since the government of the Republic of China moved to Taiwan in 1949.
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During the two-day visit, the neighboring countries are expected to sign a host of agreements on areas such as party-to-party cooperation, culture education, infrastructure projects, economy, trade and investment, according to China’s state-run news agency Xinhua.
“We have seen throughout the past year that the two countries, led by their leaders, have been working to handle their differences”.
Vietnam’s geographical tyranny has left it with limited options but to be civil to China, which also happens to be a Communist neighbour, that was markedly absent in the traditional “fraternal ties” that should have prevailed between two Communist countries. With many on Taiwan rethinking the pace at which economic ties with the mainland have developed in the past eight years, Massachusetts wants to be careful not to seem like he is moving forward on the thorny topic of political relations with Beijing. Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to pay a state visit to Vietnam starting from this Thursday. “At this juncture, the Chinese President would get the opportunity to interact and impress on the incoming leadership China” genuine (?) intentions to transform relations with Vietnam. That stance has kept Taiwan out of the United Nations and other worldwide bodies and left it with a dwindling number of formal diplomatic allies.
“It is crucial for President Xi to avoid pushing Vietnam into the arms of Japan and the US”.
Xi’s visit to mark this anniversary is part of an exchange of presidential visits, with Singaporean President Tony Tan Keng Yam visiting Beijing and Tianjin in July. In fact there were no reports of finalised dates of Chinese President’s visit to Vietnam, till recently.
Given these developments, experts say that beyond trade and investment agreements, Xi’s visit will likely be short on tangible results, especially regarding the territorial disputes.
“At this historic moment, Xi’s visit is a meaningful one that will inject new momentum and open a new chapter for the Sino-Singapore relationship”, he said.
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The Chinese president will also speak at a Singapore Lecture organised by ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, where he is expected to touch on Singapore-China relations, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-China cooperation and other regional issues.
