TAIPEI (REUTERS) - Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou said on Thursday (Nov 5) that his upcoming meeting with President Xi Jinping was about further normalising ties with China and had nothing to do with the democratic island's elections in January.
The talks in Singapore on Saturday (Nov 7), the first such meeting between the two political rivals since the Chinese civil war ended in 1949, would be transparent, with no private promises made, Mr Ma told a news conference in Taipei.
His discussions with Mr Xi could help reduce hostilities in the short term, Mr Ma said, adding that he hoped future leaders of Taiwan would be able to hold such meetings.
"This meeting is for the Republic of China's (Taiwan's) future, the future of cross-strait ties," he said in his first public remarks since the surprise news was announced at midnight on Tuesday. "This is not about an election, but is based on the consideration of the happiness of the next generation."
The meeting coincides with rising anti-China sentiment in Taiwan ahead of the presidential and parliamentary polls in January that Mr Ma's pro-China Kuomintang (KMT) is likely to lose to the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which traditionally favours independence from China.
Mr Ma, who steps down next year due to term limits, has made improving economic links with China a key policy since he took office in 2008. He has signed landmark business and tourism deals, though there has been no progress in resolving their political differences.
Communist China deems Taiwan a breakaway province to be taken back, by force if necessary, particularly if it makes moves towards formal independence.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Mr Ma said he would not raise the situation in the South China Sea with Mr Xi. Both China and Taiwan have claims to most of the waterway, although Taipei has traditionally kept a low-profile in the dispute.
Asked for his impression of Mr Xi, Mr Ma said: "I have not met him yet, so I don't have a first impression of him. Once I do, I will tell you."
The DPP has asked why the announcement had come out of the blue and said the timing of the meeting was suspect, with elections 10 weeks away.
Political experts said China could be trying to shape the result of the elections by signalling that ties would continue to improve if the KMT remained in power in Taiwan.
Some said that could backfire given increasing anti-China protests in Taiwan, especially among the young.
In what was seen as a backlash against creeping dependence on China, the KMT was trounced in local elections last year.
America's top diplomat for Asia said on Wednesday that it was hard to see which Taiwan political party would benefit most in the elections from the meeting.
But Mr Daniel Russel, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asia, said he hoped the meeting would continue the positive momentum in China-Taiwan ties seen in the past several years.
Mr Ma said Washington had been informed of the meeting ahead of time.
SORTING OUT PROTOCOLS IS PROVING TRICKY
A Taiwan official said Mr Ma and Mr Xi would split the bill when they have dinner. China's Taiwan Affairs Office said they would address each other as "mister", presumably to avoid calling each other "Mr President", as neither officially recognises the other as head of state.
