Taiwan-China summit 'first step to normalisation': Ma

Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou said on Thursday a historic weekend summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping will be the "first step to normalisation" of relations between leaders of the two former rivals. The meeting in Singapore on Saturday is the first time leaders from the two sides will have met since Taiwan split from the mainland in 1949, which left Taiwan to forge its own identity as a democracy. "Going forward we think both sides of the Strait should work towards lowering hostility... This