“Taiwan’s system is democratic; China’s is not,” he wrote.

 “What the example of Hong Kong suggests is that China would have to force Taiwan to give up democracy and the rule of law – or embrace both itself – before it could welcome its renegade province back into the fold,” said Patten,

 “Xi’s initiative [to meet Taiwan’s leader Ma] shows the extent to which he dominates Chinese politics. A weaker leader could not have taken such an ambitious step, which represents a real break with past Communist orthodoxy,” he wrote.

 Xi and Ma, in their barely hour-long closed-door talks on November 7, reaffirmed the 1992 consensus and agreed to a hotline between their ministers.

 The 1992 consensus – an agreement reached that year between the two sides stating that there is only one China but each side can have its own interpretation of it – has been the political foundation for Beijing and Taipei’s relations for the past two decades.

 Patten said there appeared to be two reasons why Xi would meet Ma.

 One is that Xi is worried about Taiwan’s ruling Kuomintang party, which lost last year’s local elections in a landslide and might face repeated blows in the presidential and legislative elections in January. In meeting Ma, Patten says, Xi may have been trying to bring the Beijing-friendly party electoral benefits by showing both sides could get along. without too much trouble.

 The other reason, he says, may have been that Xi was eager to radiate peace-loving ambitions when the Chinese economy was slowing amid rising regional tensions.

 The Prague-based Project Syndicate publishes and syndicates commentary and analysis on global affairs from academics, scientists, activists, economists, politicians and world-known figures Its membership includes about 500 media outlets in more than 150 countries.