Nothing of substance should come out of this first meeting, but it is still an historic event.
This is an unbelievably huge deal. Yeah, most people are right when they say there's little that will come out of it but I think it's pretty hard to ignore just how big this is - the CCP and GMD hated each other so much (mostly because, frankly, Chiang Kai-shek was a total dickhead) that they refused to cooperate and lead China out of its war-torn state together and instead fought a costly civil war and basically stared each other down across the Strait for about forty years. Recently, the GMD's been (rather ironically) more-or-less calling for eventual reunification with China, much to the dissatisfaction of the opposition parties and most of the younger generations in Taiwan. I really am very curious as to how this will all turn out, especially since Ma is quite pro-CCP/Xi Jinping.
Nothing at all will come of this meeting. It's just a PR stunt for Ma and China is looking for a way to influence the upcoming elections and the KMT. It's very likely the KMT will lose the next election and since Ma has been their leader he's bent over backwards to accommodate China. He believes his policies have heralded closer ties, but in actuality he's been their puppet. His popularity rating in Taiwan have been on an ever decreasing trend and he's viewed as a complete lame-duck. For his part, Ma is near the end of his presidency and is looking to secure his legacy in the history books. Some political commentators have speculated that there will be quite a negative backlash in Taiwan after the meeting. Ma is so out of touch with the rest of the country it's almost a joke.
I'll be perfectly honest; China is not my area of expertise in the slightest and I'm a Middle East person more than anything and that rarely bodes for optimism. But I am very excited that SOMETHING positive is happening with this relationship.
I'm a Sinologist (in-training, anyway...) so yeah you can only guess how excited I am haha. The cynical part of me is sort of wondering whether or not Xi Jinping and co have any ill-intent with this meeting (I'm sure they're aware of how keen Ma is about the whole 'one country, two systems' schtick)...But I dunno. Either way, it's gonna be really fascinating.