Manila was Taiwan’s first choice as venue for historic presidential summit with mainland China, says official
Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, was the first choice of Taiwan as a venue for the historic summit between the island’s President Ma Ying-jeou and Xi Jinping, according to a Taiwanese official.
The two sides leaders will meet on Saturday in Singapore.
Andrew Hsia Li-yan, chairman of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, told a press conference that the talks where suggested by Zhang Zhijun, the director of the mainland’s Taiwan Affairs Office when the two met last month.
Hsia said he suggested holding the meeting in Manila during an Apec summit, but Zhang wanted the talks to be held at another location.
Beijing’s concern, according to Hsia, was that holding the meeting at an international-level summit could blur the lines of the “One-China policy” and infer Taiwan was a separate state.
