China and Taiwan have held historic talks in Singapore – their first in more than 60 years.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou shook hands at the start of the talks, which were seen as largely symbolic.
China views Taiwan as a breakaway province which will one day be reunited with the mainland.
However, many Taiwanese see it as independent and are concerned at China’s growing influence.
“Both sides should respect each other’s values and way of life,” Ma Ying-jeou said as the talks began at a luxury hotel.
Xi Jinping told the Taiwanese leader: “We are one family.”
“The meeting between the leaders across the Taiwan Strait has opened a historic chapter in the cross-Strait relations, and history will remember today,” he added.
The meeting took place in neutral territory on the sidelines of a state visit by Xi Jinping to Singapore.
Relations between China and Taiwan have improved under Ma Ying-jeou since he took office in 2008, with better economic ties, improving tourism links, and a trade pact signed.
The two sides split in 1949 when the Kuomintang lost to the Chinese Communist Party in the civil war and set up a new government in Taiwan.
Ma Ying-jeou described the talks as “positive and friendly”, but no major agreements or deals appear to have been reached.
He said in advance that the issue of the South China Sea disputes, which has dominated recent concerns in the region, would not be brought up.
Xi Jinping raised the issue in a speech at the National University of Singapore before the meeting, saying China has always hoped to settle the disputes peacefully.
Ma Ying-jeou proposed reducing hostility across the Taiwan Strait, expanding exchanges and establishing a cross-strait hotline, according to Taiwan’s central news agency.
He said this was part of consolidating the “1992 consensus” – the agreement under which both sides recognize the principle of “one China” but define it in their own ways.
Similar remarks were made by Xi Jinping, who said upholding the consensus would help “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”.
In Taipei there were protests before the talks and one group tried to enter the Taiwanese parliament building.
AFP said there were arrests at Taipei’s Songshan airport as Ma Ying-jeou left early on November 7, where opponents of closer ties between Taiwan and China tried to set fire to images of the two leaders.
A small group supporting Ma Ying-jeou also turned up at the airport.
State media in China have heralded the meeting, though Taiwan has had a more divided reaction where opposition parties and activists have called for Ma Ying-jeou to back out.
Taiwan and China will hold a historic summit in Singapore as President Ma Ying-jeou will meet his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, on November 7.
The summit will be the first ever meeting between leaders of the two sides.
Ma Ying-jeou and Xi Jinping said the talks would focus on relations across the Taiwan Straits.
China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and views the island as a breakaway province which will one day be reunited with the mainland.
However, ties have improved since President Ma Ying-jeou took office in 2008.
The Chinese government threatens to use military force against Taiwan if it ever attempts to gain outright independence.
Taiwanese spokesman Chen Yi-hsin said President Ma Ying-jeou’s aim was “to promote peace cross the Taiwan Strait and maintain status quo”.
Ma Ying-jeou will hold a news conference on November 5 to explain his decision to hold the talks. More details are also expected from Taiwan’s mainland affairs council on November 4.
China’s official Xinhua news agency said the two sides would “exchange views on promoting the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations”.
In a sign of how politically sensitive the meeting is, the two leaders will address each other as Mr. Xi and Mr. Ma, rather than president, one Chinese government official has said.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the US welcomed any steps to reduce tensions and improve relations, but added: “We’ll have to see what actually comes out of the meeting.”
Ties with China have improved under President Ma Ying-jeou, whose Kuomintang (KMT) party is seen as pro-Beijing.
In July 2009, the two leaders exchanged direct messages for the first time in more than 60 years, albeit in their respective party functions, and not as national leaders.
In 2010, China and Taiwan signed a historic trade pact.
However, correspondents say growing fears over China’s influence has led to widespread dissatisfaction in Taiwan.
The KMT party suffered a crushing defeat in local elections in 2015, a result that was widely seen as a rejection of President Ma Ying-jeou’s push for closer ties with China.
Ma Ying-jeou steps down next year having served two terms, and earlier this month the KMT dropped its candidate for January’s presidential election following a series of poor ratings in opinion polls.
Analysts say China is likely to see a meeting between the two leaders as a final chance to press its case for improved ties, in case the KMT loses the election.
China has insisted that countries cannot have official relations with both China and Taiwan, with the result that Taiwan has formal diplomatic ties with only 21 UN member states.
Taiwan also has no seat at the UN, having lost it to China in 1971. Repeated attempts to regain representation at the UN have been blocked.
Taiwan’s ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party has ditched Hung Hsiu-chu as its candidate for the island’s presidential election in January 2016.
At an emergency congress, party members voted overwhelmingly to drop Hung Hsiu-chu following a series of poor ratings in opinion polls.
Hung Hsiu-chu will be replaced by the KMT’s chairman, Eric Chu.
Before the decision, the two favorites for the presidential poll were, for the first time, both women.
Hung Hsiu-chu, the deputy parliament speaker, was the KMT’s first female candidate. The opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate is Tsai Ing-wen, who lost in the presidential race in 2012.
Photo CNA
Taiwan has never had a female president.
Hung Hsiu-chu’s approval ratings were lagging far behind those of Tsai Ing-wen – partly because she had lost support by advocating stronger ties with China at a time when some Taiwanese voters are wary about the island becoming too close to Beijing.
Eric Chu, the mayor of suburban New Taipei City who is considered a moderate on China, has more experience in governing, leading many party members to hope he will stand a better chance against Tsai Ing-wen, despite his late entry in the race.
The KMT suffered a crushing defeat in local elections in 2014.
Taiwan’s outgoing President Ma Ying-jeou resigned as party chairman after the poll, which was widely seen as a rejection of his push for close ties with Beijing.
Taiwan and China have begun the highest-level talks since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.
Wang Yu-chi and Zhang Zhijun, the top cross-strait officials from each side, are both attending the four-day talks in Nanjing.
No official agenda has been released for the talks, which are widely seen as a confidence-building exercise.
China regards Taiwan as part of its territory. In the past, all talks have gone via quasi-official organizations.
Zhang Zhijun, head of mainland China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said: “It’s impossible to imagine in the past that we could sit here and meet [today].”
“We must have some imagination if [we want to] resolve some difficulties, not just for such a meeting, we should also have a bigger imagination for cross-strait future development,” he added.
Wang Yu-chi, head of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, described the meeting as “a new chapter for cross-strait relations”.
“For us to simply sit at the same table, sit down to discuss issues, is already not an easy thing.”
Taiwan and China have begun the highest-level talks since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949
Given the sensitivities, the meeting room had no flags on display, and the officials’ nameplates had no titles or affiliations, AFP news agency reported.
Beijing insists that Taiwan is part of China and has a stated aim of reclaiming the island.
Taiwan still calls itself the Republic of China and nominally claims the same territory as the Communist government in Beijing, although it does not press these claims.
The US is committed to defending Taipei, despite not formally recognizing Taiwan as an independent country.
The situation has created a decades-long military stand-off between Beijing and Washington.
But cross-strait ties have improved since Taiwan’s pro-Beijing President Ma Ying-jeou was elected in 2008.
Cross-strait flights began in 2008, and tourists from the mainland have boosted Taiwan’s economy.
Trade agreements have allowed Taiwanese technology firms to expand massively, investing billions of dollars in the mainland.
However, Ma Ying-jeou is unpopular and analysts say his governing Kuomintang party is likely to lose local elections later this year.
The talks are the first formal government-to-government dialogue since the 1949 split.
Taiwan negotiators are likely to propose the posting of permanent representatives on each other’s territories.
But they will also face pressure to talk about press freedom after China refused accreditation to several media outlets.
Many Taiwanese are sensitive to issues of press freedom, having lived under a dictatorship that tightly controlled the media until the 1980s.
Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng has arrived in Taiwan for an 18-day trip that is likely to anger Beijing.
Blind dissident Chen Guangcheng, who arrived on Sunday, is expected to meet opposition lawmakers and discuss human rights in China.
The self-taught lawyer, who is blind, sparked a diplomatic row last year when he escaped house arrest and sought refuge in the US embassy in Beijing.
Chen Guangcheng was eventually allowed to travel to the US to pursue further studies.
China claims sovereignty over Taiwan, although the island has been separately governed since 1949.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Chen Guangcheng thanked the Taiwanese public for their concern and support.
Chen Guangcheng has arrived in Taiwan for an 18-day trip that is likely to anger Beijing
“I am impressed by the success of Taiwan’s democracy. Taiwan should be proud of it,” he said, adding that democracy was “an important treasure”.
Chen Guangcheng is scheduled to speak in parliament and meet members of the opposition and human rights groups.
His visit is being hosted by the Association for China Human Rights, which has described it as “a trip for freedom and human rights”.
The group is linked to Taiwan’s political opposition. Chaperoning Chen Guangcheng will be many Taiwan democracy activists and individuals who have criticized China in the past.
According to AP news agency, Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou is not scheduled to meet Chen Guangcheng. Ma Ying-jeou has made improving the island’s ties with China one of his key policies.
Chen Guangcheng has been a fellow at New York University (NYU) since mid-2012. He is due to leave the university this month.
The self-taught lawyer, who had campaigned against forced abortions under China’s one-child policy, has linked his departure to “unrelenting pressure” on NYU from Beijing – something NYU roundly denies.
NYU says Chen Guangcheng’s fellowship had always been expected to last a year at most, and that he is in discussions with two other institutions about potential opportunities.
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