‘KMT leader to meet Xi Jinping’ ahead of annual talks with Communist Party

Leaders of Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang and the mainland’s Communist Party are expected to meet next month in Beijing in their first talks since the KMT lost January’s presidential election.

Hung Hsiu-chu, who became the KMT’s first chairwoman in March, would meet Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping on November 1 before the two parties held their annual meeting over the following two days, a source close to the KMT said.

“Hung will travel to Nanjing on October 30 and pay respects to late KMT leader Dr Sun Yat-sen at his mausoleum the next day before heading to Beijing on November 1,” the source said.

After talks with Xi, Hung would take part in a cross-strait forum between the two parties on November 2-3 before returning to Taiwan the next day, he said.

The source said Xi and Hung would focus on cross-strait peace, economic development and civilian exchanges in their talks.

“Hung may touch on the KMT party asset issue if Xi is interested,” the source said, referring to a probe by the government of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party into the KMT’s alleged ill-gotten assets.