BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday met with Taiwan‘s former president Ma Ying-jeou in Beijing, state media said.
“On the afternoon of April 10, General Secretary Xi Jinping met with a delegation headed by Ma Ying-jeou in Beijing,” state broadcaster CCTV said.
The discussions marked a rare meeting between current or former leaders in Beijing and Taipei, and the first since a landmark cross-strait summit between Xi and Ma in 2015, when the latter still held power.
Former president Ma headed to China on April 1 for what he called a “journey of peace” to calm tensions with Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the self-ruled island under its control.
He has been leading a delegation of 20 Taiwanese students and has visited technology firms, universities and historical sites across the country.
Ma said prior to his departure that the trip aimed to promote youth exchanges and to “reduce hostility and accumulate goodwill” with Beijing.
Ma served two terms as Taiwan’s leader between 2008 to 2016, representing the Kuomintang (KMT) party — historically more receptive to Beijing.
He oversaw an improvement in cross-strait ties and held a landmark summit with Xi in Singapore in 2015.
But relations have plummeted since the 2016 election of his successor Tsai Ing-wen, who rejects Beijing’s claims.
The election in January of Tsai’s deputy Lai Ching-te stands to worsen cross-strait ties, with Beijing having denounced him as a “dangerous separatist”.
mjw-oho/je/sco
“On the afternoon of April 10, General Secretary Xi Jinping met with a delegation headed by Ma Ying-jeou in Beijing,” state broadcaster CCTV said.
The discussions marked a rare meeting between current or former leaders in Beijing and Taipei, and the first since a landmark cross-strait summit between Xi and Ma in 2015, when the latter still held power.
Former president Ma headed to China on April 1 for what he called a “journey of peace” to calm tensions with Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the self-ruled island under its control.
He has been leading a delegation of 20 Taiwanese students and has visited technology firms, universities and historical sites across the country.
Ma said prior to his departure that the trip aimed to promote youth exchanges and to “reduce hostility and accumulate goodwill” with Beijing.
Ma served two terms as Taiwan’s leader between 2008 to 2016, representing the Kuomintang (KMT) party — historically more receptive to Beijing.
He oversaw an improvement in cross-strait ties and held a landmark summit with Xi in Singapore in 2015.
But relations have plummeted since the 2016 election of his successor Tsai Ing-wen, who rejects Beijing’s claims.
The election in January of Tsai’s deputy Lai Ching-te stands to worsen cross-strait ties, with Beijing having denounced him as a “dangerous separatist”.
mjw-oho/je/sco