TAIPEI: Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Singapore on Saturday, Ma’s office said, the first time leaders from the two sides will ever have met since they split at the end of a civil war in 1949.

The two presidents will “exchange views on cross-strait issues” Ma’s spokesman Charles Chen said Tuesday, adding that the intention of the visit was to “secure cross-strait peace” but that no agreement would be signed and no joint statement would be made. Beijing still considers Taiwan part of its territory awaiting reunification.

Ties have warmed since Ma of the China-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) came to power in 2008, but public sentiment has turned against closer relations as fears over Beijing’s influence grow.

Ma will step down as president next year after a maximum two terms and the main opposition China-sceptic Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is expected to win the leadership at elections in January.

Chen said Ma would leave for Singapore on Saturday where he will meet Xi.

“The purpose of President Ma’s visit is to secure cross-strait peace and maintain the status quo of the Taiwan Straits,” Chen said in a statement. “No agreement will be signed, nor any joint statement be released,” he added. The head of Taiwan’s top China policy decision-making body, the Mainland Affairs Council, will hold a press conference on Wednesday where more details will be released as to the significance of the meeting.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2015

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