President Xi Jinping met former Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou in the Great Hall of the People. Ma has been visiting China since April 1 on what he described as a "peace trip" to calm tensions with Beijing.
He led Taiwan from 2008 to 2016 and had already met Xi in 2015 in Singapore in their historic two-minute meeting. Cross-Strait relations have collapsed since the 2016 election of Tsai Ing-wen as president of the island, due to her positions against Beijing's claims on the belief that Taiwan's autonomy is a fact. The victory of his deputy, William Lai, in the January 13 presidential elections has the potential to further worsen relations between Taipei and Beijing. The latter, in fact, is a "troublemaker" and a "dangerous separatist" for the communist leadership, according to the Chinese president.. The former leader succumbed to tears on four occasions during the visit, the last of which on Monday during the excursion to the Great Wall while he sang the patriotic song.