--- description: Here are three issues that are likely to be on the top of Ma Ying-jeou’s agenda for the first meeting in decades title: 3 Things Taiwan Wants From China image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc6856f708a4300d4/69886f7f0a4a2286e69c6e1e/gettyimages-480529300.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 3 Things Taiwan Wants From China by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 4, 2015 9:00 AM CUT  Taiwan's Ma Ying-jeou listens to questions during an interview on July 12, 2015 Taiwan's Ma Ying-jeou listens to questions during an interview on July 12, 2015Erika Santelices—AFP/Getty Images by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 4, 2015 9:00 AM CUT No formal deals will be signed when [Taiwan’s leader Ma Ying-jeou sits down with China’s President Xi Jinping in Singapore for the historic meeting](http://time.com/4099353/china-taiwan-meeting-ma-ying-jeou-xi-jinping/ "undefined") on Saturday, but the two leaders still have a lot to discuss. Here are three issues that are likely to be on the top of Ma’s agenda after seven decades without a face-to-face meeting. **Get voters excited** Voters in Taiwan will head to the polls on Jan. 16 for presidential and legislative elections, with Ma’s party, the Kuomintang (KMT), trailing in the polls. A meeting of this historic magnitude might provide a much needed bump for the KMT’s candidate Eric Chu, who has fallen behind Democratic Progressive Party chairwoman [Tsai Ing-wen](http://time.com/3926330/the-next-president-of-taiwan/?xid=homepage "undefined"). **Cement a legacy** Calling the first talks with China’s leader in decades is sure to cast Ma as a regional peacekeeper. As a result, some see the meeting as Ma’s chance to secure his legacy before his departure from office. “This is his page in history,” said Willy Lam, an adjunct professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Centre for China Studies. **A balancing act on the economy** Despite ongoing political disputes, Taiwan and China have [bolstered](http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-china-taiwan-presidents-meeting-20151103-story.html "undefined") economic ties over the past few years. But as business relations with the mainland have eased, some Taiwanese are “worried \[about\] the ‘invasion’ of China’s economic power,” said Yang Tai-shuenn, political-science professor at the Chinese Culture University in Taipei. Successful talks will require striking the right balance between the public and commerce. **_Read next:_** [_3 Things China Wants From Taiwan_](http://time.com/4099330/china-taiwan-xi-jinping-ma-ying-jeou-meeting/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4099355/china-taiwan-meeting-xi-jinping-ma-ying-jeou/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4099355/china-taiwan-meeting-xi-jinping-ma-ying-jeou/"},"headline":"3 Things Taiwan Wants From China","datePublished":"2015-11-04T09:00:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:19:39.608Z","description":"Here's what might be on the agenda for a historic meeting","url":"https://time.com/4099355/china-taiwan-meeting-xi-jinping-ma-ying-jeou/","keywords":["China","Xi Jinping","Asia","Taiwan","meeting"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc6856f708a4300d4/69886f7f0a4a2286e69c6e1e/gettyimages-480529300.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mark Rivett-Carnac","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mark-rivett-carnac/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc6856f708a4300d4/69886f7f0a4a2286e69c6e1e/gettyimages-480529300.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"DOMINICAN REP-TAIWAN-MA","caption":"DOMINICAN REP-TAIWAN-MA","creditText":"Erika Santelices—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4099355/china-taiwan-meeting-xi-jinping-ma-ying-jeou/","name":"3 Things Taiwan Wants From China"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"China's Drift Towards a More Fragmented World","description":"Editor-at-large Ian Bremmer discusses China's financial growth and the challenges it faces in becoming the world's largest economy.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/jZ1U3aiv/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-06-02T18:26:16.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jZ1U3aiv.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4099355/china-taiwan-meeting-xi-jinping-ma-ying-jeou/","duration":"PT2M49S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4099355/china-taiwan-meeting-xi-jinping-ma-ying-jeou/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```