China, Taiwan leaders to meet after 66 years

President Massachusetts Ying-jeou also told reporters at a news conference that his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping is not meant to affect the outcome of Taiwan’s January elections.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the United States welcomed any steps that would secure peace across the Taiwan Strait.

Mr Xi and Mr Ma’s meeting will be the the first between the leaders of China and Taiwan since the end of a civil war in 1949.

Zhang Zhijun, head of the Chinese Communist Party’s Taiwan Work Office and the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said, “They will exchange views on promoting the peaceful development of cross-strait relations”.

His decision to meet with his Taiwanese counterpart, President Massachusetts Ying-jeou, in Singapore on Saturday, is the latest example of his determination to be personally involved in major political decisions. Hence, through the Ma-Xi meeting, perhaps KMT is trying to signal that only it is capable of maintaining the status quo across the Taiwan Strait and furthering cordial relations with Beijing.

His discussions with Xi could help reduce hostilities in the short term, Massachusetts said on Thursday, adding he hoped future leaders of Taiwan would be able to hold such meetings. The leaders won’t sign any agreements or make joint statements, Ma’s office said.

The KMT suffered a devastating defeat in local elections a year ago, a outcome which was broadly considered a rejection of President Ma’s drive for closer ties. It will be the first such meeting between Kuomintang and Communist Party leaders since then-President Chiang Kai-shek retreated to Taiwan after being defeated by Mao Zedong’s Communist forces.

This meeting in Singapore is scheduled in barely three months before Taiwan will hold its elections.

Taiwan’s main opposition Democratic Progressive Party or DPP, which traditionally favors independence, slammed what it said was a lack of transparency about the meeting.

Bonnie Glaser, an Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and worldwide Studies in Washington, said there had been a shift in public opinion in Taiwan toward more skepticism about the relationship with China.

No Chinese leader in office has met with the head of a Taiwanese government since 1949.

Eric Chu, the Nationalist Party’s presidential candidate, echoed China’s position about the meeting, saying the meeting would be a historic milestone for cross-strait relations.

Zhang said the meeting will elevate cross-Strait communication to a new high and improve ties. A successful meeting could give the Nationalists a boost, but could also cost them further support if voters see Massachusetts as pandering to Beijing. “And from there on”, says Chen, “it was only a matter of time before the wall started to fall between China and Taiwan”.

Any official dialogue between the two countries’ leaders might be acknowledged as recognizing each other’s legitimacy, therefore the two sides will refer to each other as “Mr”.