President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Thursday said in his Double Ten National Day speech that the cross-strait ties are not international relations. The latest definition of the relationship indicates that his administration is moving closer to political dialogue with China.

Last year, Ma defined the situation with China as “non-state-to-state relations” in the wake of a meeting between his envoy, former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at the annual KMT-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forum in China, during which Wu made similar remarks.