China said on Monday it was keen on a meeting between President Xi Jinping and Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou, but signaled it was in no rush to set a venue or timeframe for what would be a historic get-together.
Since taking office in 2008, Ma has signed a series of landmark trade and economic agreements with China, cementing China’s position as Taiwan’s largest trading partner.
But Taiwan said last week that China had rebuffed as “inappropriate” a request for the two men to meet at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing.
Fan Liqing, spokeswoman of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, told reporters the subject of a Xi-Ma summit was “not a topic for discussion” during last week’s landmark meeting between top Chinese and Taiwan government officials.
That meeting was an important step in pushing overall cross-Strait relations, she said, adding that further steps would follow, promising to benefit people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
“As for a meeting between the leaders on both sides of the Strait, we have said many times that this is something we have upheld for many years, and we have always had an open, positive attitude towards it,” Fan said.
via China says keen on meeting with Taiwan president, but no rush | Reuters.
See also: https://chindia-alert.org/2014/02/14/china-dashes-taiwans-hope-of-meeting-between-leaders-at-apec-reuters/
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