Taiwan-China meeting brings together former Cold War foes

BEIJING — The presidents of China and Taiwan are meeting this weekend for the first time since the Chinese Revolution ended in 1949, with the once-bitter Cold War foes testing years of rapidly warming ties.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Taiwanese counterpart Ma Ying-jeou will meet on neutral ground in Singapore, the Asian city-state whose government maintains friendly ties with both.

[...] the most powerful Chinese leader in decades, Xi would benefit from a successful outcome to the meeting by appearing to further what China calls the “great goal of national unification.”

The elections could serve as an unofficial referendum on Ma’s pro-China policies, and his party could be dragged down further by perceptions Ma is pandering to China’s ruling Communists to burnish his own legacy and benefit the island’s pro-China elite.