METROVANINDEPENDENT.COM
November 2015
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Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou and Chinese President Xi Jinping
Taiwan, China leaders to hold
historic meeting in Singapore
The presidents of Taiwan and China will
meet in Singapore on Saturday to discuss
cross-strait issues, Taiwan's presidential
office said, in the first such meeting of
leaders from the two sides since the
Chinese civil war ended in 1949.
Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou will
fly to Singapore to meet with Chinese
President Xi Jinping, the presidential office
said in a statement.
The meeting comes at a politically
sensitive time in Taiwan, with elections for
a new president and legislature being held
on Jan. 16.
China's Taiwan Affairs Office said in
a statement: "The mainland's attitude on
a meeting between leaders from both
sides of the Taiwan Strait is positive and
consistent. If there is news on this, we will
issue it in a timely manner."
The purpose of Ma's trip was to
"consolidate cross-strait peace and
maintain the status quo", his office said. Ma
would not sign any agreements, nor issue
any joint statements with China during the
trip, it added.
Taiwan's cabinet would meet with
leaders of parliament and the island's
political parties on Wednesday to discuss
the trip.
Ma's pro-China Nationalist Party,
known as the Kuomintang (KMT), is trailing
in opinion polls behind the main opposition
Democratic Progressive Party, which
traditionally favors independence and is
loathed by the Chinese Communist Party.
Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists fled
to Taiwan following their defeat by Mao
Zedong's Communists at the end of the
Chinese civil war.
China, which maintains a good
relationship with Singapore,
holds that there is only "One
China" and Taiwan is part of it.
Since then Taiwan has been self-ruled,
but China deems the island a breakaway
province to be taken back, by force if
necessary, particularly if it makes moves
toward independence.
Previous Chinese attempts to influence
Taiwan's elections have backfired.
In 1996, then-Chinese President Jiang
Zemin ordered live fire missile tests and
war game