The leaders of China and Taiwan shook hands ahead of a carefully managed meeting in Singapore that will mark the first summit since the two sides clashed in a civil war seven decades ago.

Watched by a gaggle of photographers and reporters, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou greeted each other before the start of closed-door discussions where they will address each other as “mister” to navigate the complex protocols that accompany their talks. They shook hands and waved to the cameras.
Xi told Ma that the two sides are “one family” and cannot be pulled apart, as they began a landmark summit on Saturday in Singapore.
“No force can pull us apart,” Xi told Ma. “We are one family.”
The tete-a-tete, which comes before Ma leaves office in a few months, ensures the politically divisive China issue remains at the center of Taiwan’s January presidential election. Ma’s Kuomintang, or Nationalist party, has caused unease with voters by bringing the two sides closer economically, and the party’s candidate is trailing in opinion polls.
For Xi, the meeting may help Communist Party leaders in Beijing secure gains that have seen the country become Taiwan’s biggest trading partner. The talks come at the end of his state visit to Singapore and ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meeting in Manila later this month.
Singapore previously hosted talks in 1993 that followed an agreement by China and Taiwan to acknowledge the existence of “one China” while keeping their own interpretation of what that means.
The talks are being held in a room at the Shangri-La hotel at a long table with black office chairs. The table has a white cloth and is adorned with pink and red flowers, and each seat has a notepad, water bottle and teacup in front of it. Name cards show Ma will sit opposite Xi with each to be flanked by six officials.
After the meeting the two men will have a low-key dinner — where they will split the bill — before flying out. Ma brought with him several bottles of Taiwanese liquor that may make an appearance at the meal. Bloomberg