On May 4, 2015,General Secretary of the Chinese Communist PartyXi Jinping andKuomintang (KMT) ChairmanEric Chu met inBeijing.
AfterXi Jinping became theGeneral Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in November 2012, the KMT repeatedly proposed a potential meeting between Xi andMa Ying-jeou, who served as Chairman of the Kuomintang from 2009 to 2014.[1] Nothing came of the plans until 2015, when Chuwas elected KMT chair.
In January 2015,Eric Chu became theChairman of the KMT. On March 11, 2015,Yang Wei-chung [zh], the former KMT spokesman, was consulted about theCross-Strait Economic, Trade, and Culture Forum, but details of the discussion were not publicly disclosed.[2]
On April 12, 2015, Eric Chu confirmed that he would be attending the 10th Cross-Strait Economic, Trade, and Culture Forum, which was to be held inShanghai on May 2–3, 2015, but the Xi-Chu meeting was not yet confirmed.[3]
On April 24, 2015,Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang said that Chu and Xi would meet.[4]
On May 2, 2015, Eric Chu arrived atShanghai Pudong International Airport and shook hands with the head of theTaiwan Affairs Office of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee,Zhang Zhijun.[5] That same day, Chu attended a Cross-Strait Economic, Trade, and Culture Forum held in Shanghai. He shook hands withYu Zhengsheng, the chairman of theNational Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. At this forum, Chu mentioned theAsian Infrastructure Investment Bank, a regional development bank led by the Chinese Government. Also, Chu visitedFudan University and delivered a speech.[6][7]
On May 4, 2015, Chu arrived inBeijing and met withXi Jinping, the General Secretary of the CCP. Xi said that mainland China and Taiwan should settle political differences through consultation of the "One China" policy.[8] Chu also said that the1992 Consensus could be expanded to the international realm.[9]
After meeting Xi, Chu delivered a speech atPeking University.[10]
On May 4, 2015, theAssociated Press reported on the Xi-Chu meeting. The report quoted Eric Chu as saying that his party supports "eventual unification". But the chair of the KMT's Culture and Communications Committee, Yang Wei-chung, said that the report was mistaken. After the KMT filed a complaint, the AP rescinded the report.[11]
