Taiwan, China leaders to hold historic talks

Ma Ying-jeou (left) and Xi Jinping. Photo: Reuters
Ma Ying-jeou (left) and Xi Jinping. Photo: Reuters

Chinese President Xi Jinping is to hold talks with his Taiwanese counterpart Ma Ying-jeou in Singapore  in the first such meeting of leaders from the two rivals since the Chinese civil war ended in 1949.

The historic meeting on Saturday comes at a sensitive time in Taiwan, with elections for a new president and legislature being held on January 16 amid rising anti-China sentiment, particularly among younger Taiwanese who don't believe Taiwan benefits from closer economic ties with its giant neighbour.

Ma's office said in a statement that the purpose of his trip was to "consolidate cross-strait peace and maintain the status quo". Ma would not sign any agreements, nor issue any joint statements with China during the trip, it added.

Zhang Zhijun, head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said the leaders will "exchange views on promoting the peaceful development of cross-Taiwan Straits relations", according to a statement carried by the official Xinhua news agency.

"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.

China deems the island a breakaway province to be taken back, by force if necessary, particularly if it makes moves toward independence.

Ma has made improving economic links with China a key policy since he took office in 2008, and has signed a series of landmark business and tourism deals, though there has been no progress on resolving their political differences.

He is set to step down next year due to term limits, with his ruling pro-China Nationalist Party, known as the Kuomintang (KMT), trailing badly in opinion polls behind the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which traditionally favours independence and is loathed by the Chinese Communist Party.

KMT presidential candidate Eric Chu supports a continuation of Ma's China policies. The DPP says it believes only Taiwan's people can decide its future. Beijing takes this to mean it wants independence.

DPP presidential frontrunner Tsai Ing-wen has said she will "maintain the status quo" but has not elaborated on how she plans to do so.

Experts said China could be trying to influence the election, adding Ma was taking a risk in meeting Xi with the poll only 10 weeks away.

However, previous attempts have backfired.

In 1996, then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin ordered live fire missile tests and war games in the seas around Taiwan to try and intimidate voters not to back Lee Teng-hui, who China believed was moving the island closer to formal independence.

The crisis brought the two sides to the verge of conflict and prompted the United States to sail a carrier task force through the Taiwan Strait in a warning to Beijing. Lee won the election by a landslide.

In March this year, Ma flew to Singapore to pay his respects after the death of the city-state's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, a diplomatically sensitive visit given China's stance that Taiwan is a renegade province.

China, which maintains a good relationship with Singapore, holds that there is only "One China" and Taiwan is part of it.

However, Singapore also maintains a close, informal relationship with Taiwan and the two signed a free trade pact in 2013.

In 1993, Singapore was the location of the first direct talks between China and Taiwan since 1949. 

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