Chinese, Taiwanese leaders begin historic summit

Singapore: A minute-long handshake between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Taiwanese counterpart Ma Ying-jeou kicked off a landmark summit between the two leaders in Singapore on Saturday. The historic Xi-Ma meeting at the Shangri-La Hotel, started at 3.00 p.m., The Straits Times reported. This is the first cross-strait summit since the end of a civil war in 1949. Both China and Taiwan have said cross-strait peace and cooperation are on the agenda and Ma has said prior to leaving for Singapore that he hopes the meeting could be the first major step toward institutionalising a cross-strait communication channel, Channel News Asia reported. After an hour-long meeting, Xi and Ma will address separate news conferences. Singapore, which is hosting President Xi on a two-day state visit has said it was “happy to facilitate” the meeting and to provide the venue for the talks.