Taiwan-China Relations

Ma-Xi meeting unlikely to sway TAIEX

NO ‘EXCITING’ TOPICS:Investors are expected to refocus on the nation’s economic fundamentals this week after the leaders’ meeting failed to arouse market excitement

Taipei Times
Date: , Nov 09, 2015
By: Lauly Li  /  Staff reporter

The historic meeting on Saturday between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese

President Ma Ying-jeou, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping enter the room at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore where they held their summit on Saturday. Photo: AP

President Ma Ying-jeou, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping enter the room at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore where they held their summit on Saturday. Photo: AP

President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Singapore is expected to have a limited impact on the TAIEX this week due to a lack of economic and trade accomplishments, analysts said.

After seeing signs of a sell-off in local shares late last week, the market is expected to focus on economic news and the outlook for the technology sector in the run-up to the year-end holiday season, they said.

“The Ma-Xi meeting is more symbolic than substantial,” said Roy Chun Lee (李淳), deputy director of the Chung Hua Institution for Economic Research’s (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) Taiwan WTO Center.

Lee said the leaders’ meeting did not create any “exciting topics” for the market.     [FULL  STORY]

MA-XI MEETING: ‘Neither of us is a good drinker,’ Ma says of China’s Xi

IN-DEPTH INSIGHT?Ma said that during dinner with the Chinese leader, they talked about zodiac signs, alcoholic drinks and regional produce

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 09, 2015
By: Staff writer, with CNA

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said he sees Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) as a leader who is able to make quick decisions.

Asked about his impressions of the Chinese leader after their meeting and dinner in Singapore on Saturday, Ma told reporters on a flight back to Taiwan that “apparently neither of us is a good drinker.”

The two leaders and half a dozen officials from either side had a closed-door meeting, followed by a dinner in which liquor — kaoliang from Taiwan and maotai from China — as well as rice wine from Matsu were served.

Sitting next to each other at a round table, he and Xi talked about alcoholic drinks, Chinese zodiac signs and special produce from various regions, among other topics, Ma said.

Prior to their meeting, Ma said had learned about Xi only by reading.

Having finally met him, Ma said he found Xi capable of making decisions quickly on some issues, such as the possibility of allowing more Chinese students to come to Taiwan.     [FULL  STORY]

Ma-Xi summit leaves many stones unturned

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-08
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou returned to Taiwan early Sunday after a historic meeting

Ma-Xi summit leaves many stones unturned. Taiwan News

Ma-Xi summit leaves many stones unturned. Taiwan News

with his Chinese counterpart and with some backlash awaiting him at home. Many public figures in Taiwan have expressed their regret or blatant disagreement over the meeting, including the opposition DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen.

This meeting, however, didn’t yield a substantial result but a mere dazzling group photo show between the two talking past each other. It speaks another political absurdity under the Ma administration.

“Most people in Taiwan will be disappointed at the outcome of the Ma-Xi summit,” Tsai said in her Facebook post Saturday evening reacting to the meeting.

The Ma-Xi meeting, which was held Saturday afternoon in Singapore, was the first-ever one between the leaders of Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China. Ma said in a post-meeting press conference that both of them agreed to continue the peaceful development of cross-Strait ties under the framework of the 1992 consensus, which is a policy of “one China with different interpretations.”     [FULL  STORY]

Nature of cross-strait ties unchanged after Ma-Xi meeting: scholar

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/11/08
By: Huang Chao-ping and Frances Huang

New York, Nov. 7 (CNA) Andrew Nathan, an East Asian studies professor at Columbia University, said Saturday that a meeting between Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has not created any changes in the nature of cross-strait relations.

Nathan, who specializes in Chinese politics, said that neither side has changed its position regarding the cross-strait relations.

“Beijing position is that Taiwan can benefit if it pursues cooperation with mainland China but the price of such a benefit is not to challenge the one China principle,” Nathan said.

On this, Xi spoke in a gentle fashion, but “nonetheless he was clear that refraining from such a challenge is the price of peace; a challenge to the one China principle would lead to a disruption of peace,” said the U.S. academic.     [FULL  STORY]

Ma’s failure to mention ‘different interpretation’ sparks debacle

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-08
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

President Ma Ying-jeou has failed yet again to live up to the expectations of the people, as

Ma's 'one china' remark sparks debacle. Central News Agency

Ma’s ‘one china’ remark sparks debacle. Central News Agency

his “one China” remark during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Singapore sparked a huge debacle in Taiwan, according to local media reports Sunday.

Ma failed to achieve equality or receive mutual respect at his summit with Xi, Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen said, adding that his failure to mention the reference on “different interpretation” has left majority of the public disappointed.

Ma also failed to fulfill two other elements Tsai had put forward as conditions earlier, namely maintaining transparency and the absence of political preconditions. The president had failed on all counts, Tsai said after the meeting ended Saturday.

Tsai’s criticism of Ma’s performance in Singapore rebutted

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/11/08
By: Claudia Liu and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Nov. 8 (CNA) A presidential spokesman on Sunday rejected opposition leader and

Presidential Office spokesman Chen Yi-hsin. (CNA file photo)

Presidential Office spokesman Chen Yi-hsin. (CNA file photo)

presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文)’s allegations that the Republic of China (ROC) was absent throughout a historic meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping (習近平) in Singapore Saturday.

After delivering his opening remarks, Ma referred to the ROC in the context of the ROC Constitution and the Additional Articles to the ROC Constitution and talked of “one China, respective interpretations,” in front of Xi, Presidential Office spokesman Chen Yi-hsin (陳以信) said, asking Tsai when and where were these phrases missing during the Ma-Xi meeting?

Chen also asked Tsai to refer to page S3 of the Apple Daily, the front page of the Liberty Times, the front page of the United Daily News, and page A3 of the China Times on their Sunday editions, which he said had thorough and comprehensive coverage of the meeting.     [FULL  STORY]

Ma, Xi hold historical meeting in Singapore

Taiwan Today
Date: November 8, 2015

Leaders from the two sides of Taiwan Strait met for the first time Nov. 7 in Singapore, turning

President Ma Ying-jeou (left) and mainland Chinese leader Xi Jinping are all smiles before their historical meeting Nov. 7 in Singapore. (Courtesy of Presidential Office)

President Ma Ying-jeou (left) and mainland Chinese leader Xi Jinping are all smiles before their historical meeting Nov. 7 in Singapore. (Courtesy of Presidential Office)

a new page in the history of Taipei-Beijing relations.

During their one-hour meeting, ROC President Ma Ying-jeou and mainland Chinese leader Xi Jinping addressed each other by “mister” and discussed ways to deepen two-way exchanges. They were each accompanied by six senior officials and other staff members.

In his opening remarks, Ma said through this meeting, the two sides affirmed to the world their determination to safeguard cross-strait peace and promote regional stability.

“As we leave behind the history of separation spanning more than six decades, we are faced with the fruitful results from replacing standoff with dialogue and confrontation with rapprochement,” he said. “Our goal is to seek sustainable peace and prosperity.”     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan opposition says only democracy can decide future

Reuters
Date: Nov 8, 2015
By: Faith Hung and Ben Blanchard

Only the people of Taiwan can decide its future and will do so in elections in January, the Clipboard01island’s opposition leader and presidential frontrunner said on Sunday, as China’s top newspaper warned peace was at risk if it opted for independence.

A day after Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou held historic talks in Singapore, Tsai Ing-wen, leader of Taiwan’s independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), said the leaders’ meeting had done nothing to make Taiwan’s people feel safer.

“Only the majority public opinion on Jan. 16 can decide Taiwan’s future and cross-strait relations,” Tsai wrote, referring to ties with the mainland.

At the meeting in neutral Singapore, the first get-together of leaders of the two sides since China’s civil war ended in 1949, Xi told Ma they must not let proponents of Taiwan’s independence split them.     [FULL  STORY]

MA-XI MEETING: Ma stance implies ‘brain damage’: Ko

‘AMBIGUOUS’:The so-called ‘1992 consensus’ only matters if its premise is addressed in full, as without that the term is nothing more than a ‘title,’ Ko said

Taipei Times
Date:  Nov 09, 2015
By: Sean Lin  /  Staff reporter

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said that the so-called “1992 consensus” is a

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, center, talks to reporters yesterday while visiting the Shengan Temple in Keelung with People First Party Secretary-General Liu Wen-hsiung, second left. Photo: Yu Chao-fu, Taipei Times

Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je, center, talks to reporters yesterday while visiting the Shengan Temple in Keelung with People First Party Secretary-General Liu Wen-hsiung, second left. Photo: Yu Chao-fu, Taipei Times

term that lacks substance, and that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) trumpeting of the Beijing-backed “one China” principle in Singapore could indicate that he is suffering from “brain damage.”

Ko made the remarks in response to media queries while accompanying People First Party legislative candidate Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) to pray for good fortune at Keelung’s Shengan Temple.

Despite repeatedly saying that he would refrain from criticizing Ma, Ko could not contain his frustration over Ma’s performance at the Singapore summit.     [FULL  STORY]

After Ma-Xi meeting, scholars question what will come next

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/11/08
By: C.C. Yin and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Nov. 8 (CNA) The key concern after the Nov. 7 meeting between President Ma 201511080031t0001Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) in Singapore is whether the two sides will continue on a path of peaceful development, Taiwanese scholars said Sunday.

At a seminar on the outlook for cross-Taiwan Strait relations after the Ma-Xi meeting, Andy Chang (張五岳), director of Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of China Studies, said what really concerned Beijing during the meeting was whether bilateral relations would continue to develop peacefully after Taiwan’s presidential election in January 2016.

In addition to Ma, Beijing also took into consideration whether Taiwan’s next leader will follow the path of continuing peaceful development across the strait, Chang said.

The candidate of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), is considered a virtual lock to take power, and the party is considered far more mistrustful of China than the current Kuomintang administration.     [FULL  STORY]