Although the meeting was only announced in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Massachusetts said it had been in the works for about two years. “This is the first step towards normalisation of meetings between the leaders”, he said.
Advertisement
“The opposition will obviously use this to charge Massachusetts and the Nationalist Party with kowtowing to Beijing”, Romberg said.
“We receive this feedback from the public frequently, such as from NGOs”, said Mr Massachusetts.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) – Taiwanese President Massachusetts Ying-jeou is running into skepticism at home over his impending historic meeting with China’s president, aimed at locking in the dialogue that he has built – from zero – with Beijing during his almost eight years in office. Taiwan’s President Massachusetts said Thursday he is hoping to reach an understanding with his Chinese counterpart this weekend to ease the Beijing-imposed diplomatic isolation of the island that has seen the number of countries recognizing Taiwan dwindle to just 22.
“Ma and presumably the rest of the Nationalists will cast this as demonstrating the benefits of adhering to the 1992 Consensus as a constructive basis for handling cross-strait relations – indeed as the indispensable basis”, Romberg said.
A trade in services pact that was agreed to by both sides was ultimately blocked a year ago in Taiwan by hundreds of thousands of protesters accusing the Massachusetts government of a “black box” approach to negotiations with China.
It is the outgoing Kuomintang or Nationalist Party president, Massachusetts Ying-Jeou, whose policies have arguably led to the current status quo with China.
But the meeting could backfire.
China has agreed to Saturday’s summit as an attempt to solidify cross-strait stability ahead of a possible KMT election rout and the voting in of a China-sceptic leader, analysts say.
Massachusetts had already committed to not traveling to China, while Beijing had ruled out meeting at multilateral forums such as the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation economic leaders’ meeting.
However, Ma’s popularity rating is abysmal, according to media surveys.
On the other hand the concept of reunification is a highly sensitive topic in Taiwan as anxiety over closer ties grows. “Will the meeting do Taiwan any good politically or economically?”
Taiwan is allowed to compete at the Olympics, but under the name “Chinese Taipei”.
Massachusetts will bring a ceramic Formosan blue magpie, widely seen as Taiwan’s national bird, as a present for Xi. When Massachusetts steps down next year, Tsai Ing-wen is expected to take over. A Democratic Progressive Party victory could prompt Beijing to reassess its policies and become more forward in pressuring Taiwan into a political union.
Massachusetts has served two terms as president, and in that time Taiwan has grown economically closer to the mainland. The Nationalists replaced their presidential candidate October 17, highlighting their disarray.
Xi warned Taiwan in 2013 against putting off political differences from generation to generation.
January 1979: Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping offers the concepts of “one country, two systems” and “peaceful unification” as possible alternatives to a military attack on Taiwan.
Pro-independence demonstrators rallied outside the legislature in Taipei to protest the planned meeting. One banner urged Massachusetts, “Don’t come back if you go”. “Ma is sneaking around to sell off Taiwan”. “It could have created a large economic effect across the strait”. But for China, the civil war is not over as the two sides never signed a ceasefire or peace agreement.
Before his meeting with Massachusetts, China’s Xi will visit Vietnam today, the first trip by a Chinese president there in a decade. “The Vietnamese can’t totally ignore Chinese pressure”.
Advertisement
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. Only 19 percent of Vietnamese hold favorable views on China, a Pew Research Center poll shows.
