China, Taiwan presidents plan rare meeting as Taiwan election looms
President Xi Jinping is due to meet Taiwan's Ma Ying-jeou in Singapore on Saturday. Taiwan is holding elections in January and Mr. Ma's party is trailing in the polls.
President Xi Jinping is due to meet Taiwan's Ma Ying-jeou in Singapore on Saturday. Taiwan is holding elections in January and Mr. Ma's party is trailing in the polls.
The leaders of China and Taiwan announced they will meet Saturday for the first time since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, a historic yet potentially risky political move in the lead-up to Taiwan's presidential election.
"Any meeting between the leaders of China and Taiwan would be delicate, but the coming Taiwanese elections add to the political risks for both sides," John Ciorciari, assistant professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, told Reuters.
Polls indicate that Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou's ruling聽Kuomintang party will lose in January to the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which historically favors independence from China. By contrast, Mr. Ma has worked to improve relations with China since his election in 2008.聽
The meeting between President Ma and Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to take place in Singapore on Saturday.聽
The elections 鈥� and the meeting 鈥� come on the heels of heightened anti-Chinese sentiment in Taiwan, particularly among youth. In 2014, protesters occupied parliament in opposition to a trade deal with China. Controversy also erupted over new history text books that use language that, for example, describes Taiwan as being 鈥渞ecovered by鈥� instead of 鈥済iven to鈥� China after World War II, 海角大神 reports. The recent youth protests:
China considers Taiwan a breakaway province, and 鈥渉as warned that any formal declaration of independence could lead to military intervention,鈥� reports CNN.
The island has been self-ruled since 1949 when Chiang Kai-shek's forces retreated from the mainland, vowing to take it back in the future. Since then, Taiwan has been at odds with Beijing's Communist rulers, particularly during periods of cold-war tensions in the region. In 1971, the United Nations switched its recognition to the People's Republic of China, replacing Taiwan's representation at the world body.聽
The fact that President Xi is holding this historic meeting itself shows China is worried, reports the BBC.
Ma said the point of the get-together is to 鈥渕aintain the status quo鈥� with China. His office has emphasized that no agreements would be signed.
The leaders are expected to refer to one another as 鈥渕ister,鈥� as a way to avoid using titles or honorifics like 鈥減resident,鈥� a result of neither officially recognizing the other as head of state, The New York Times reports.聽