Xinhua Insight: Taiwan voices high expectation for upcoming Xi-Ma meeting

Taiwan politicians, media and business people were upbeat over the news that Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou will meet in Singapore Saturday.

Andrew Hsia, Taiwan's mainland affairs chief, told a press conference Wednesday afternoon that the island expects the meeting to consolidate the current peaceful situation across the Taiwan Strait and lead to "a possible regular arrangement like the meetings between cross-Strait affairs chiefs."

The meeting indicates firm resolve from the two sides to maintain positive interaction and protect cross-Strait peace, Hsia said.

The Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan's ruling party, hailed the meeting as "a major watershed" for mutually beneficial cooperation.

KMT Chair Eric Chu said that the landmark meeting will push forward the cross-Strait relationship and build mutual trust based on the 1992 Consensus.

Almost all newspapers, TV news channels and news websites in Taiwan through Tuesday night to Wednesday covered the upcoming meeting.

On Wednesday morning, major local media flocked the island's legislature, when Mao Chi-kuo, head of Taiwan's executive authority, came to brief Wang Jin-pyng, head of the legislature, about the meeting.

Wang said after the briefing that the legislature supports any cross-Strait dialogue that is conducive to regional peace and stability and expects the meeting to be a success and meet people's expectations.

During the meeting, the two leaders will exchange views on promoting the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.

It will be the first such meeting between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan since 1949 when the Kuomintang, led by Chiang Kai-shek, fled to Taiwan after being defeated in a civil war.

The Taiwan-based United Daily News called the meeting "the most important event in cross-Strait relations" in a report Wednesday.

"The meeting between Xi and Ma will bring cross-Strait exchanges to a new level and set the tone for cross-Strait policies in the future," the article wrote. "No matter what they will talk about, it will be the most important event in nearly seven decades and profoundly affect cross-Strait ties in the future."

SINGAPORE, AGAIN

Many media highlighted the coincidence that the meeting will be held in Singapore where the first round of cross-Strait talks was held in 1993.

Wang Daohan, then president of the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS); and Koo Chen-fu, then chairman of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), were present at the ground breaking meeting in Singapore in April 1993, based on a common understanding later known as the "1992 Consensus". It paved the way for further improvement of ties.

Unfortunately, after 1998, meetings were suspended because then Taiwan leader Lee Teng-hui began to pursue "Taiwan independence."

It was not until 2008 that the heads of ARATS and SEF met again, in Beijing. Since then, 11 rounds of talks have been held and a number of important cross-Strait agreements signed, including lifting bans on direct shipping, air transport and postal services in 2008, and the long-awaited Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement in 2010.

Political observers consider the meeting a landmark event in the natural progression of cross-Strait relations.

Shaw Chong-Hai, a mainland affairs expert with the Chinese Culture University in Taipei, told Xinhua that the meeting reflects accumulated mutual understanding and trust between the two sides through positive interactions since 2008.

The Taiwan Stock Exchange's main index opened higher and continued to climb sharply during the day, reflecting hopes of further warming in cross-Strait ties after the meeting.

Wang Chung-peng, president of Peng Ching International Group, told Xinhua that Taiwan business people hope the meeting will bring long-lasting peace and stability.

"I appreciate the two leaders' vision and wisdom," Wang said. "The current peaceful situation across the Strait has greatly benefited Taiwan firms that do business on the mainland. We expect the meeting to touch on issues that are vital to ordinary people and bring about rewarding results." Endi