Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-Jeou will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Singapore this weekend, the two sides said, in what will be the first meeting between leaders from the rivals since the end of a civil war in 1949. The surprise meeting follows a gradual warming of relations with Beijing since Ma of the China-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) came to power in 2008.Beijing still considers the island part of its territory, even though the two sides have been governed separately since Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek and his KMT forces fled to Taiwan after losing the civil war to Mao Zedong’s communists. The White House gave a cautious welcome to the surprise announcement of a meeting between its major rival, China, and regional ally Taiwan.
Presidents of China, Taiwan to hold historic meeting
