The leaders of China and Taiwan hold a historic summit Saturday that will put a once unthinkable presidential seal on warming ties between the former Cold War rivals.
The meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwan’s Ma Ying-jeou in neutral Singapore is the first between leaders of the two sides since their 1949 split following the Chinese civil war won by the Communists.
But around 100 angry demonstrators attempted to storm Taiwan’s parliament building in Taipei overnight to denounce the summit.
Another protest was held at the capital’s airport as Ma departed, and local police said 27 people were arrested.
Many Taiwanese are increasingly wary of Ma’s Beijing-friendly policies, and fear that being drawn too far into the mainland orbit could compromise the island’s independence.
In Singapore, the luxury hotel where the summit is to take place was mobbed by at least 200 journalists from Taiwan, China and elsewhere clamouring for security clearance to the meeting.
Following the 1949 rift, China endured Communist revolutionary tumult then transitioned into an economic colossus, while Taiwan evolved into a prosperous and rambunctious democracy.
A technical state of war existed for decades after the divorce and both sides of the Taiwan Strait still bristle with weaponry as growing economic relations are yet to fully dispel a legacy of deep distrust.
Since Beijing-friendly Ma took power in 2008, however, a historic thaw began that will see a key milestone with the summit.
The 1949 rupture left a wound in the Chinese psyche that both sides have yearned to address for decades, and when Xi and Ma first meet around 3 pm (0700 GMT) they will exchange a handshake that will resonate back home.
They will then hold an hour of closed-door talks.
– ‘Concentrated efforts’ –
Deep political sensitivities remain, however, and Xi and Ma will tread a fine political line as their governments still formally deny each other’s legitimacy.
“Avoiding a setback in cross-Strait relations will take the concentrated efforts of both leaders,” Douglas H. Paal, a former head of the American Institute of Taiwan — the de facto US embassy — wrote in an analysis for the Carnegie Endowment.
“As any political pro would say, the optics of the visit could prove very important to the message that emerges.”
Under a strict protocol, neither will address each other as “president”, instead using “mister”.
The two sides were set to hold their own back-to-back press conferences after the meeting, but it remained to be seen who will appear at the briefings.
Ma has said there will be no joint agreement or statement issued.
But he has expressed hope the meeting could boost Taiwan’s clout on the international stage, where it has been marginalised by Beijing’s insistence that other countries not recognise the Taipei government.
Taiwan lost its United Nations seat to China in 1971 and only 22 states formally recognise it, a key point of resentment for Taiwanese.
– Party politics –
Opponents accuse Ma, who leaves office soon, of using the summit to boost his ruling Kuomintang’s (KMT) chances at presidential elections in January, which the party is tipped to lose.
Taiwanese have developed a distinct sense of their own identity and, with the economy flagging, many voters feel they have gained little from the China rapprochement and have been deserting the KMT.
The protesters at Taiwan’s parliament were stopped by police, but a dozen of them staged a sit-in into Saturday morning.
The Taipei airport demonstrators burned images of the two leaders with slogans calling Xi a “Chinese dictator” and Ma a “traitor”.
China had repeatedly denied Ma’s attempts to secure a face-to-face meeting, prompting questions over why the green light was given now.
Many analysts say China wants to boost the ailing KMT, but warn the strategy could backfire with anxious Taiwanese voters if Beijing is seen meddling in the election outcome.
The summit also is interpreted by some as a bid by Beijing to play the peacemaker and draw attention away from aggressive Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea that has caused unease throughout the region.
In a speech in Singapore earlier Saturday, Xi repeated his country’s uncompromising sea claims but vowed to resolve disputes with its weaker neighbours peacefully.
“What we in China believe… is that the strong and rich should not bully the weak and poor,” he said.