Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has held talks in Beijing with one of Taiwan’s former presidents, in a rare encounter just weeks before the next transfer of power in the democratic country.
Xi’s talks with Ma Ying-jeou on Wednesday were the first since the two men met in Singapore nine years ago when Ma was still in office.
Xi praised Ma’s dedication to pursuing exchanges with China and his opposition to Taiwan independence, and invoked what he said was 5,000 years of shared history.
“Compatriots on both sides of the Straits are all Chinese, there is no irritation that cannot be resolved, there is no problem that cannot be discussed, there is no force that can divide us,” Xi said in footage broadcast by Taiwanese television.
“The fact that we have different [political] systems does not change the objective fact that both sides of the Strait belong to the same country, the same nation,” China’s president added.
Ma, who left office in 2016, said Chinese people on both sides of the Strait “are absolutely wise enough to prevent” war.
The meeting carries heavy political symbolism for Beijing, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory and strives to bring it under its control.
But it is controversial in Taiwan, where the vast majority of the population opposes unification with China.
The ruling Democratic Progressive party insists the island is an independent country, but Ma’s opposition Kuomintang views it as part of a greater Chinese nation — albeit not the Communist People’s Republic.
The talks coincided with the 45th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act, the US law that commits Washington to equip Taiwan with defensive weapons and defines any effort to determine the island’s future non-peacefully as a threat to regional security and of grave concern to the US.
They also came just ahead of summits that US President Joe Biden is to hold with the leaders of important regional allies Japan and the Philippines.
Beijing has been irritated by US efforts to beef up co-operation with its military allies in the region as it seeks to counter China’s growing military power and deter Xi from considering an attack on Taiwan.
Taiwan political observers said the timing of the meeting between Xi and Ma was intentional.
“Xi is using Ma to send a message to Taiwan,” said Su Chi, who formerly served in Ma’s National Security Council and as a member of his cabinet.
“If you are pro-independence, we don’t want anything to do with you, and if you are not pro-independence, don’t be too afraid, we can still talk to you,” he said. “He is also sending a message to Biden, whose hands are tied down by Gaza, Ukraine, etc: Don’t worry about the Taiwan Strait, I’m not giving you any trouble on this.” Xi Jinping was doing Biden a “big favour”, Su argued.
The meeting comes as Beijing is preparing for a further DPP government under Lai Ching-te, Taiwan’s current vice-president who will be inaugurated as president on May 20.
Lai on Wednesday picked former DPP chair Cho Jung-tai as his premier and said he wanted a “proactive and innovative” government that would seek compromise with the opposition-dominated parliament, push economic reforms and address concerns such as high property prices.
But Lai’s apparent focus on an economic agenda and avoiding political controversy contrasts with his political roots in the DPP’s orthodox pro-independence wing, which has driven Beijing to denounce him as a “dangerous” separatist.
