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 The meeting in Singapore coincides with rising anti-China
sentiment in Taiwan ahead of the presidential and parliamentary
polls in January which the pro-China Kuomintang (KMT) is likely to
lose to the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which
traditionally favors independence from China.
Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou, who steps down next year due to term
limits, has made improving economic links with China a key policy
since he took office in 2008. He has signed landmark business and
tourism deals, though there has been no progress in resolving their
political differences.
Andrew Hsia, head of the Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan's ministry
in charge of China policy, said the meeting underscored both sides'
dedication to peace.
But DPP presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen asked why the
announcement had come out of the blue.
"I believe people across the country, like me, felt very surprised,"
she said in prepared remarks to reporters. "To let the people know
in such a hasty and chaotic manner is damaging to Taiwan's
democracy."
 Political experts said China could be working to shape the result of
the elections by trying to show that ties would continue to improve
if Taiwan remains ruled by the KMT.
DPP spokesman Cheng Yun-peng said the timing of the meeting was
suspect. "How can people not think of this as a political operation
intended to affect the election?" he said.
Hsia said the push for the meeting, initiated by the head of China's
Taiwan Affairs Office, was neither rushed nor opaque and that there
would be no secret deals reached.
"We adhered to open and transparent principles and absolutely did
not use a rushed, chaotic black-box manner," he told reporters.
But some analysts said it could backfire, given increasing
anti-China protests, especially among the young. In what was seen as
a backlash against creeping dependence on China, the KMT was
trounced in local elections last year. Younger Taiwanese in
particular worry about Beijing's influence.
"Any meeting between the leaders of China and Taiwan would be
delicate, but the coming Taiwanese elections add to the political
risks for both sides," said John Ciorciari, an assistant professor
at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of
Michigan.
"Ma Ying-jeou and Xi Jinping are doubtlessly concerned that their
summit will help Tsai Ing-wen expand her lead as the Taiwanese
electorate drifts away from the mainland."
Small groups of protesters gathered outside Taiwan's parliament on
Wednesday.
Communist China deems proudly democratic Taiwan a breakaway province
to be taken back, by force if necessary, particularly if it makes
moves towards formal independence.
China, which has repeatedly said it won't interfere in the
elections, will nonetheless be sending a message that good ties with
Taiwan can only continue if the island's leaders accept China's
bottom line, which is that there is only "one China".
The Communists and KMT both agree there is "one China" but agree to
disagree on the interpretation. Taiwan has been self-ruled since
Chiang Kai-shek's KMT fled to the island following their defeat by
Mao Zedong's Communists at the end of the Chinese civil war.
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SUPPORT FROM "ALL WALKS OF LIFE"
Ma's office said in a statement the purpose of his trip was to
"maintain the status quo". He said no agreements would be signed or
joint statements agreed to, it added.
Zhang Zhijun, head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said the
leaders would "exchange views on promoting the peaceful development
of cross-Taiwan Straits relations", according to a statement carried
by the official Xinhua news agency.
He called the meeting a milestone that would help manage conflict
and would gain "wide support from all walks of life across the
Strait and the international community".
The two leaders were expected to have dinner after their meeting and
will address each other as "mister", Zhang said, presumably to avoid
calling each other Mr. President, as neither officially recognizes
the other as head of state.
The meeting came about after Chinese and Taiwanese officials met in
the Chinese city of Guangzhou last month, he added. Singapore's
Foreign Ministry said it was asked by the two sides to "facilitate
the meeting".
Zheng Zhenqing at Beijing's Tsinghua University Institute of Taiwan
Studies said it was wrong to link the meeting directly to the
election but that it did underscore a determination to get Taiwan to
recognize the "one China" principle.
"It's being made on consideration for the long term, to clearly show
that as long as Taiwan's leaders accept there is one China, then
leaders from both sides can meet," he said. "This has to be the
basis of the relationship."
White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters it was too early
to call the meeting a turning point.
Previous Chinese attempts to influence Taiwan's elections have
backfired.
In 1996, then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin ordered missile tests
and war games in the seas around Taiwan to try to intimidate voters
not to back Lee Teng-hui, who China believed was moving the island
closer to formal independence.
The crisis brought the two sides to the verge of conflict and
prompted the United States to sail a carrier task force through the
Taiwan Strait in a warning to Beijing.
Lee won the election by a landslide.
(Additional reporting by Faith Hung in Taipei, Megha Rajagopalan in
Beijing, Aradhana Aravindan in Singapore and Idrees Ali, Patricia
Zengerle and Roberta Rampton in Washington; Editing by Dean Yates
and Nick Macfie)
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