TAIPEI - Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Singapore on Saturday, Ma's office said, in what will be the first meeting between leaders from the two rivals since the end of a civil war in 1949.
The two presidents will "exchange views on cross-strait issues" Ma's spokesman Charles Chen said Tuesday, referring to the stretch of water separating mainland China and Taiwan.
The intention of the visit is to "secure cross-strait peace" but no agreement will be signed, he said.
The surprise meeting follows a gradual warming of relations with Beijing since Ma of the China-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) came to power in 2008.
Beijing still considers the island part of its territory even though the two sides have been governed separately since Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek and his KMT forces fled to Taiwan after losing the civil war to Mao Zedong's communists.
Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou (centre) defended his China-friendly policies during a National Day ceremony in Taipei, on October 10, 2015
"The purpose of President Ma's visit is to secure cross-strait peace and maintain the status quo of the Taiwan Straits," Chen said in a statement.
"No agreement will be signed, nor any joint statement be released," he said, adding that Ma will hold an international press conference on Thursday.
CAUTIOUS US WELCOME
The head of Taiwan's top China policy decision-making body, the Mainland Affairs Council, will hold a press conference Wednesday where more details will be released as to the significance of the meeting.
There was no immediate reaction from Beijing but the White House gave a cautious welcome.
"We would certainly welcome steps that are taken on both sides of the Taiwan strait to try and reduce tensions and improve cross-strait relations," said spokesman Josh Earnest.
"But we will have to see what actually comes out of the meeting."
Tuesday's announcement was unexpected after Ma's hopes for a meeting with Xi had previously been dashed despite improved relations.
He had hoped to meet Xi at an Apec meeting in Beijing in November but said China had refused.
TAIWAN PROTESTS LIKELY
"This is a milestone in cross-Strait relations," said Professor Chao Chun-shan, an expert in mainland affairs at Tamkang University in Taipei.
"It should be helpful for the stabilisation of the region," he told the Apple Daily.
But some opposition political parties expressed concern over the meeting and called on supporters to protest Wednesday outside parliament.
While ties have warmed under Ma, public sentiment has turned against closer relations as fears over Beijing's influence grow.
Ma will step down as president next year after a maximum two terms and the main opposition China-sceptic Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is expected to win the leadership at elections in January.
A senior DPP spokesman told local media the party would not comment until further details of the visit were released.
The KMT suffered its heaviest-ever local election defeat last year, with its China-friendly strategy a major factor.
While closer ties with Beijing have brought trade pacts and a tourism boom, many voters feel big business has benefited, rather than ordinary Taiwanese people.
There are also concerns over lack of transparency -- last year saw the unprecedented occupation of parliament by student protesters angered by a trade agreement they said had been made in secret.
But Ma has repeatedly defended his China-friendly policies, saying they have brought stability to the region.
INDEPENDENCE SUPPORTERS STILL ACTIVE
The KMT adheres to the "1992 consensus" -- a tacit agreement between the party and Beijing which acknowledges there is "one China" but allows each side their own interpretation.
Ma has warned against the consequences of diverging from the 1992 consensus, which the DPP does not recognise.
DPP candidate Tsai Ing-wen has repeatedly said that she will maintain the status quo if elected president in January, but is likely to face pressure from pro-independent voices within her own party.
She has also been criticised by the KMT who say she has not fully explained how her policy will work.
The KMT replaced its pro-China presidential candidate last month as the deeply divided party struggles for public support.
Party chairman Eric Chu was endorsed as the KMT's new contender after members voted against Hung Hsiu-chu representing them at the polls, following concern that her conservative views fly in the face of public sentiment.
Hung had historically taken a pro-unification stance and espoused a peace agreement with China.
Relations since 1949
With leaders to meet Saturday, here is a chronology of Taiwan-China relations:
1949: Mao Zedong's communists take power in Beijing after defeating Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang (KMT) nationalists, who flee to Taiwan and form their own government, cutting off contacts with mainland China.
1950s: The United States deploys a fleet in the Taiwan Strait to protect its ally from possible attack by Communist China. War is narrowly averted on several occasions.
1971: Beijing takes over China's seat at the United Nations, previously held by Taipei.
1979: The United States establishes diplomatic relations with China but also commits itself to defending Taiwan.
1987: Taiwan residents are permitted to visit China, leading to a boom in trade.
1991: Taiwan lifts emergency rule, unilaterally ending a state of war with China.
1993: First direct talks between the two sides are held in Singapore.
1995: Beijing suspends high-level talks in protest at a visit by Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui to the United States.
1996: China tests missiles off Taiwan to deter voters in the island's first democratic presidential election, which Lee Teng-hui wins in a landslide.
2001-05: Trade links between Taiwan and China improve, first by sea and then via air links.
2000: KMT loses power for the first time in elections won by Chen Shui-bian of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party.
2004: Chen is narrowly re-elected president.
2005: Beijing adopts a law which makes secession by Taiwan illegal, at the risk of military action.
2008: Taiwan and China resume high-level talks, suspended since 1995, after the KMT's Ma Ying-jeou is elected president on a Beijing-friendly platform.
2010: Taipei and Beijing sign an Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, the most sweeping document yet between the two sides.
2014: Beijing and Taipei hold first government-to-government talks since they separated in 1949.