Taiwan's premier Tuesday played down hopes of a meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the upcoming APEC summit, describing them as "not high".
The idea of such an unprecedented meeting was floated in February before a historic trip to China by Taiwan's minister in charge of China affairs Wang Yu-chi — the first official contact between Taiwan and former bitter rival China in more than six decades.
Taiwanese officials including Ma himself had raised the prospect of a presidential meeting even though China gave it the cold shoulder. It fears a public meeting of leaders from Taipei and Beijing at an international forum could suggest "two Chinas", an intolerable scenario for Beijing.
Premier Jiang Yi-huah admitted Tuesday that hopes of a meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum near Beijing in November were fading.
"It looks like the chance is not high," Jiang said while replying to questions in parliament.
Various messages from the Chinese mainland indicated that "they do not hope to arrange such a meeting at the APEC summit", he said.
Relations have improved significantly since Ma of the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang party came to power in Taipei in 2008. He was re-elected in January 2012.
But Taiwan's leaders are barred from APEC summits due to objections from China, which claims sovereignty over the island. Taiwan is represented instead by senior economic advisers or business leaders.
However Xi met Vincent Siew, Taiwan's former vice-president, on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Indonesia last October.
Taiwan has yet to announce who will attend the upcoming APEC meeting.
China still considers Taiwan part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. The island has ruled itself since splitting from the mainland in 1949 at the end of a civil war.
