The talks between
China President Xi Jinping and Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou, the first
such meeting since China's civil war ended in 1949, are to be held in
the neutral venue of Singapore.
They come ahead of
presidential and parliamentary elections on Taiwan which the
independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is favoured to
win, something Beijing is desperate to avoid.
The
Nationalists, also known as the Kuomintang (KMT), retreated to Taiwan
after losing the civil war to the Communists, who are still in charge in
Beijing.
China has never renounced the use of force to bring what it considers a breakaway province under its control.
But
while bilateral trade, investment and tourism have blossomed -
particularly since Mr. Ma and his KMT took power in 2008 - there is deep
suspicion on both sides and no progress has been made on any sort of
political settlement.
"I am here to promise to
everyone, we must be doing our best to reach the goal that we set
previously, making the Taiwan Strait more peaceful, making the two sides
more cooperative," Mr. Ma told reporters before boarding his flight to
Singapore.
Mr. Ma, chatting to reporters on board, as
Taiwan air force jets escorted his aircraft out of Taiwan air space,
said he was neither too nervous nor too relaxed about the meeting.
"This is an important task. We need to do well at every stage," he said.
No
agreements are expected in what is seen as a highly symbolic
get-together at a luxury hotel in Singapore, a largely ethnic Chinese
city-state that has maintained good ties with both for decades.
China's
official Xinhua news agency said Mr. Xi and Mr. Ma would "exchange
views on promoting the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations
and discuss major issues in deepening cross-Strait cooperation and
improving people's welfare".
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