Historic mainland China-Taiwan presidential summit was held back by spying row, says man at centre of espionage probe
Ex-Taiwan official says President Xi Jinping and his Taiwanese counterpart Ma Ying-jeou could have met earlier than last year if it wasn’t for the spy dispute
The historic summit between the mainland China’s President Xi Jinping and his Taiwanese counterpart Ma Ying-jeou could have taken place up to a year earlier had it not been for a row over alleged espionage, according to Taipei’s former top negotiator on cross-strait issues.
Chang Hsien-yao, former deputy minister of the Mainland Affairs Council, said that at the time of the row Taiwan had been hoping to take part in a regional economic cooperation programme but its chances were ruined on August 4, 2014, when Chang was accused by his boss, Wang Yu-chi, of leaking classified information to the mainland before cross-strait talks.
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Chang was asked to resign and put under investigation.
But Taipei prosecutors found there was no evidence against him, but by then the damage had been done.
“If the spying row had never occurred, many cross-strait deals would had been done. President Ma could have met Xi one year earlier and Ma would have been in an exciting historical position,” Chang said in an exclusive interview with the Post.
Taiwan had been keen on taking part in the trade agreement since President Ma’s second term, but had been facing difficulties due to the sensitive sovereignty issues involved.
