5 KEY ISSUES AT STAKE IN THE HISTORIC CHINA-TAIWAN MEETING
Billed as the start of a new era of trust, it may lead to problems
Beijing maintains that Taiwan is a rebel province that will eventually be fully returned to the mainland, even if force is required.
The meeting Saturday between the leaders of China and Taiwan in Singapore, the first since 1949, is being billed as the start of a new era of cooperation and trust, but it also could lead to problems.
Here are five reasons why the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou are key:
IT WILL BE THE FIRST MEETING BETWEEN TAIWAN AND CHINA IN 66 YEARS
The year was 1949. Taiwan broke away from China when Nationalists fled to the island after being defeated by the Communists, who still rule the mainland today.
Although Taiwan has been self-ruled for decades, it has stopped short of claiming formal independence. Beijing maintains that Taiwan is a rebel province that will eventually be fully returned to the mainland, even if force is required.
TAIWAN’S POLITICAL STATUS IS AMBIGUOUS
The self-ruled island has a U.S.-supplied military and chooses its leaders through independent elections, but Taiwan has not declared its independence and it is not a member of the United Nations. Both China and Taiwan say they seek unification, but Ma has said “the time is not yet ripe” for such talks.
Most countries do not maintain full diplomatic relations with Taiwan. The United States maintains “a robust unofficial relationship” with Taiwan and does not support Taiwanese independence, but is committed to its defense, according to the State Department.
THERE’S A HISTORY OF ANIMOSITY BETWEEN THE TWO
In July, Chinese state media broadcast images of military drills where commandos with the People’s Liberation Army stormed a full-size replica of Taiwan’s presidential palace.
In 1996, China fired missiles into the sea off Taiwan’s coast in a failed attempt to deter voters from choosing an independenceminded candidate.
The action was also meant to demonstrate Chinese resolve that it would take action to prevent full Taiwanese independence.
Mainland Chinese forces bombed Taiwan twice in the 1950s, prompting a U.S. commit- ment to defend the island.
ELECTIONS IN TAIWAN NEXT YEAR COULD STRAIN THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MAINLAND
Ma has sought closer economic ties with China and steered clear of the independence issue, but his policies have been unpopular with many in Taiwan. Ma’s Nationalist Party is behind in the polls leading up to January’s presidential and parliamentary elections.
The main pro-independence opposition Democratic Progressive Party, which seeks to slow relations with China, is in the lead, buoyed by a rise in antiChinese and anti-unification sentiments. China is worried that the Progressive Party’s candidate, Tsai Ing-wen, will actively work toward independence, said Richard Bush III, a China analyst at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
THE MEETING COMES AS CHINA IS ACTING MORE ASSERTIVELY IN THE REGION
China is reviving old claims to islands also claimed by U.S. allies and others, leading to standoffs on the high seas with Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam.
China’s construction of runways and ports on once-uninhabited atolls in the South China Sea prompted the United States to send warships to demonstrate the U.S. pledge that building new islands does not change the status of international waters.