By Shannon Tiezzi
The who, what, when, where, how, and (most importantly) why of the historic meeting between Taiwan and China’s leaders.
After the bombshell revelation yesterday that the presidents of China and Taiwan would meet for the first time in history, there were a lot of unanswered questions about how the meeting would work. Finagling a meeting between two leaders who both claim to govern the same territory – according to the 1992 consensus, at least – is difficult in terms of logistics and protocol. After press conference by the bodies responsible for handling cross strait relations (the Taiwan Affairs Office in mainland China, and the Mainland Affairs Council in Taiwan), we have a clearer picture of how the meeting will work – and what it means for cross-strait relations.
The meeting will take place at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore on November 7. Presidents Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou will be meeting as “leaders” of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, and will address each other as “mister.” That allows China to avoid acknowledging Ma as a “president” (thus legitimizing the Republic of China government on Taiwan) while allowing Taiwan to avoid the embarrassment of having Ma only acknowledged in his personal capacity. TAO chief Zhang Zhijun said the two sides had made practical preparations “according to the one China principle.”
The two leaders will shake hands, deliver opening remarks before the press, then head off to closed door discussions. According to Zhang, Ma and Xi will “concentrate their energy on exchanging views on some important issues.” After the discussions, both sides will hold separate press conferences, then they will head to a banquet. Ma will depart Singapore immediately after the dinner.
Read the full story at The Diplomat