China-Taiwan talks may yield domestic dividends for both sides

IT has become abundantly clear since that famous 81-second handshake that, while the landmark meeting between China's President Xi Jinping and his Taiwanese counterpart Ma Ying-jeou may not have done much to advance relations across the Taiwan Strait, it certainly did something for the domestic agendas of both leaders.

Mr Xi's encounter with Mr Ma at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore was the first official meeting between leaders on both sides of the s…