President Ma Ying-jeou says the United States was pleased with the advanced notice that Taiwan gave ahead of his recent meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Ma made the remarks at a Lion’s Club event on Monday.
Ma said that his historic meeting with Xi had yielded positive outcomes and that it had helped consolidate cross-strait peace.
The president also responded to an article in the Liberty Times which said he had only given the United States four days’ notice ahead of his meeting with Xi.
“We informed the US government five days before the meeting took place," said Ma.
"They thanked us for the advance notice and [for maintaining] surprise-free communication. They did not learn about the meeting by reading the newspapers, we told them five days in advance. They have said that they welcome and support our decision.
Ma said that the meeting was well-received around the world. He said that over 600 international reporters were in Singapore to cover the event. That meant that hundreds of millions of people had seen coverage, he said, with a majority responding favorably.