China’s Xi to meet ex-Taiwan leader in Beijing in landmark event

President Xi Jinping and then Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou ahead of their historic Singapore summit on Nov 7, 2015. - AFP

BEIJING: Chinese leader Xi Jinping will meet former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou in Beijing for a landmark sitdown spotlighting the Communist Party’s willingness to talk to the island’s opposition.

The two men will meet Wednesday (April 10), the opposition Kuomintang that Ma once led said in a statement. Ma was president of the self-ruled democracy from 2008 to 2016, and becomes the first former Taiwan leader to visit the Chinese capital.