President Ma Ying-jeou says he supports the idea of a meeting between Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman Xi Jinping. Ma was speaking in a recent interview with the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun.
During the interview, Ma said that a meeting between Chu and Xi would be “normal” and “very good”. Ma said he does not rule out the possibility of a Chu-Xi meeting but would not try to make such a meeting happen either.
In the past, there has been much speculation as to whether President Ma would be able to meet with President Xi on the sidelines of APEC meetings. But due to factors including public sentiment in Taiwan, Ma has not yet been able to do so.
The interview comes as the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party prepare to hold their annual forum on May 3rd in Shanghai. The KMT and CCP have been meeting annually since 2006.