Xi, Ma to redefine cross-Strait talks
Print Edition
THE leaders of China’s mainland and Taiwan will meet this weekend in Singapore with a handshake that will mark a seismic shift in a relationship that since 1949 has been spattered with hardships and twists.
Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou will refer to each other as “Mister” during their historic meeting on Saturday, marking a breakthrough in face-to-face exchanges and communication between the leaders from across the Taiwan Strait.
In line with the one-China principle, the Chinese mainland and Taiwan showed their willingness to push aside differences and respect each other, Zhang Zhijun, head of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said yesterday.
The meeting is a milestone in nearly seven decades of relations, Zhang said, adding that it will “create new space” for exchanges and interaction.
The meeting comes at a key moment in cross-Strait relations, and will help to enhance trust, strengthen common political ground, push forward peaceful development, and safeguard peace and stability in the region, he said.
The Kuomintang, Taiwan’s ruling party, said in an online statement that the meeting will be “a major watershed” for the two sides to realize beneficial cooperation.
Wang Jin-pyng, head of Taiwan’s legislature, said the island supports any cross-Strait dialogue that is conducive to regional peace and stability, and expects the meeting to be a success.
Xi and Ma will exchange views on promoting the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, and discuss major issues in deepening cooperation and improving people’s welfare, Zhang said.
The two leaders are also expected to attend a dinner after the meeting.
Relations between the mainland and Taiwan stalled when KMT forces, led by Chiang Kai-shek, fled to Taiwan in 1949 after a civil war.
The two sides had military conflicts and sharp political confrontations until the late 1980s, when they broke the ice on their mutual isolation.
The 1992 Consensus, reached in talks between the two sides, endorses the one-China principle, which has received wide global recognition.
Singapore was chosen as the location for the meeting between Xi and Ma after “various considerations,” Zhang said.
While he did not elaborate, it is perhaps not a coincidence.
In April 1993, Wang Daohan, head of the mainland’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, and Koo Chen-fu, chairman of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation, met in the city-state, paving the way for improved cross-Strait ties.
In April 2005, Hu Jintao, then general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, and Lien Chan, then KMT chairman, held the first meeting between the leaders of the two political parties in six decades.
Through consultation between the ARATS and the SEF, the two sides have since inked 23 agreements, resolving a range of issues of interest to people on both sides.
Cross-Strait economic cooperation has been deepened, and “three direct links” — direct mail, transport and trade — have been achieved, Zhang said.
Enhanced exchanges in various areas have resulted in closer ties between the people, he said, adding that the two sides have also reduced internal frictions in handling foreign affairs through consultations.
“The meeting between Xi and Ma is the result of the concerted efforts of both sides,” Zhang said.
It will be a significant move that “complies with people’s wishes and current trends,” he said.
The mainland has always taken “a proactive and open attitude” to holding a leaders’ meeting, Zhang said, adding that Saturday’s event in Singapore is “significant” and has “positive meaning” for the long-term development of cross-Strait relations.
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