in one room. The two will hold a historic summit in Singapore

on Saturday. However， with no joint agreement or statement

expected， some analysts believe the bilateral meeting will not generate any specific results，…

practical or otherwise. Won Ji－hyun shares with us various scenarios

of this meeting.

Promoting peaceful development across the Taiwan Straits will be the main agenda item

for a summit between Taiwan′s President Ma Ying－jeou and China′s President Xi

Jinping in Singapore on Saturday. But the two leaders will not issue a post－meeting

joint statement or agreement， according to a Taiwanese spokesman on Wednesday.

The meeting is considered highly controversial yet significant as a China－Taiwan summit

has never been held since the two split in 1949， at the end of the Chinese civil war.

Since then China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan and has threatened military force to

counter any move for outright independence. The summit′s political sensitivity is highlighted

by the fact that each leader will address the other as Mister，… Mr. Xi and Mr. Ma，…rather

than Mr. President. While China－Taiwan ties have been improving

in recent years， there are escalating fears of Beijing′s growing influence in Taiwan.

This is perhaps highlighted by expectations that Ma′s party， often criticized for

leaning toward China， is expected to lose in the upcoming Taiwan′s presidential elections.

While some experts say the summit is historic and symbolic， they suggest it holds political

risk as well. Professor June Dreyer from the University

of Miami says there is possibility of large scale protest in Taiwan if Ma makes any remarks

that hurt Taiwan′s independence. Meanwhile， visiting professor Tung Junyuan

at UC Berkeley says the summit will hold no burdens for China′s president as it′s

being held behind closed－doors， and is likely to fall short of generating any practical

and specific results. Connie Kim， Arirang News.