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KMT defends Ma
meeting China’s Xi
‘ECONOMIC ENTITY’: President Ma Ying-jeou told a
Hong Kong magazine that he would meet the Chinese leader only if Taiwan is in
need and if Taiwanese support a meeting
By Mo Yan-chih / Staff reporter
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday defended the possibility of
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at
next year’s APEC meeting in Beijing, insisting that such a meeting would only be
held if supported by Taiwanese and if national dignity can be maintained.
“It is President Ma’s persistent stance that a meeting between leaders from the
two sides of the Taiwan Strait must be held when we have such a need, with the
support of the people and with reciprocal dignity,” KMT spokesman Yang Wei-chung
(楊偉中) said.
Ma said in an interview published in the Hong Kong-based magazine Yazhou Zhoukan
on Wednesday that he expects to attend the APEC meeting as the leader of an
“economic entity,” rather than as the nation’s president or KMT chairman, adding
that he would be willing to meet with Xi during the economic summit in Beijing.
“[The two sides of the Taiwan Strait] need to create some conditions for such a
meeting. We are still in the process of creating these conditions,” he said.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) has ruled out the possibility of a Ma-Xi
meeting at the APEC summit when asked to comment on the issue, he added.
Ma in the interview declined to confirm whether he is seeking to define his
historical status through a meeting with Xi, and said such a meeting would only
happen when the nation is in need and with the public’s support.
While Xi has been putting pressure on the Ma administration for cross-strait
political negotiations, Ma said the government would not avoid political talks
with China, but the time is not ripe for such talks.
Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Wang Yu-chi’s (王郁琦) meeting with TAO
Director Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) in October on the sidelines of the APEC summit in
Indonesia was seen as a move to pave the way for a meeting between Ma and Xi.
The first official meeting between Wang and Zhang, which is to be held after the
Lunar New Year holidays in February, also drew attention to the cross-strait
agenda to be addressed during the meeting.
Wang on Wednesday said a meeting between the national leaders of the two sides
should be held at an appropriate time and venue. When reporting to the KMT
Central Standing Committee the prospects for cross-strait relations in the wake
of the Chinese Communist Party’s 18th congress, he said the MAC would continue
to strive for Ma to attend the APEC meeting as the leader of an economic entity.
Wang later denied in a press release that he suggested the council would push
for Ma to visit China, and that next year’s APEC summit in Beijing provides an
appropriate venue for Ma to meet with Xi.
In the interview, Ma also reiterated his calls for the legislature to facilitate
the review process of the cross-strait service trade agreement and said it would
be impossible for the government to renegotiate the pact with China.
“It’s impossible to start a new negotiation on the agreement. There have been no
such cases in the world and mainland China will not accept it either,” he said.
Ma also rejected the argument that the US and South Korea had renegotiated their
free-trade agreement, saying that the renegotiation was held because it was
proposed by the US to further open its markets.
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