GOING TO BAT:Ma’s progress in cross-strait ties has been lauded by foreign academics and officials, former security head King Pu-tsung said

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 14, 2015
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Former National Security Council secretary-general King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) yesterday attributed China’s rejection of a proposed meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) last year to Ma’s insistence on holding the meeting at the APEC summit in Beijing.

Ma’s insistence that the APEC summit would be the best venue for a meeting with his Chinese counterpart reflected how APEC’s membership is not predicated on the notion of sovereign nation states, but economic identities, King said in a radio interview, apparently suggesting that the meeting would therefore circumvent issues of sovereignty and equal status.

China rejected Ma’s proposal because Beijing was dissatisfied with his offer to meet with Xi at an international forum, King said.     [FULL  STORY]