The meeting between the presidents of China and Taiwan will be a genuinely historic moment — but nobody should expect it to herald a resolution of what is one of the most treacherous faultlines in international politics.
中国国家主席习近平与台湾总统马英九的会谈将是一个真正的历史性时刻，但谁都不应指望此次会晤将预示着国际政治中最危险的裂痕之一有了解决之道。
As the first summit since the Communist mainland and the former Japanese colony were divided by civil war in 1949, Saturday’s encounter between China’s Xi Jinping of China and Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan certainly sets an important precedent.
作为自1949年中共领导的大陆与台湾这个前日本殖民地因内战而分离以来的首次高峰会谈，本周六习近平与马英九的会谈无疑将树立一个重要先例。
Mr Xi also appears to have agreed to meet Mr Ma on level terms — both leaders will address each other by the neutral honorific xiansheng, or “mister” — sending a message of flexibility in dealings with Taiwan, which Beijing insists is an integral part of its own sovereign territory.
习近平似乎也已同意以平等身份与马英九举行会谈，双方领导人将以中性尊称“先生”称呼对方，这传达出一种信息，表明大陆在处理台湾问题上具备灵活性，大陆方面坚称台湾是中国主权领土不可分割的一部分。