Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping

Taipei:  Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Singapore on Saturday, Ma's office said, in what will be the first meeting between leaders from the two rivals since the end of a civil war in 1949.

The two presidents will "exchange views on cross-strait issues" Ma's spokesman Charles Chen said Tuesday, referring to the stretch of water separating mainland China and Taiwan.

The intention of the visit is to "secure cross-strait peace" but no agreement will be signed and there will be no joint statement, he said.

The surprise meeting follows a gradual warming of relations with Beijing since Ma of the China-friendly Kuomintang (KMT) came to power in 2008.

Beijing still considers the island part of its territory even though the two sides have been governed separately since Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek and his KMT forces fled to Taiwan after losing the civil war to Mao Zedong's communists.

Chen said Ma would leave for Singapore on Saturday where he will meet Xi.