TAIPEI, April 1 (Reuters) - Former Taiwan president Ma

Ying-jeou left on Monday for an 11-day trip to China where he is

expected next week to have his second meeting with Chinese

President Xi Jinping, at a time of simmering tensions across the

Taiwan Strait.

Ma, president from 2008 to 2016, last year became the first

former Taiwanese leader to visit China. Since the defeated

Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing

a civil war to Mao Zedong's communists, no serving Taiwanese

leader has visited China.

China considers democratically-governed Taiwan its own

territory, and has ramped up military and political pressure to

assert those claims.

Ma met Xi in Singapore in late 2015 for a landmark summit

shortly before the current Taiwan president, Tsai Ing-wen, won

election.

Ma and China's government have not confirmed the meeting

with Xi, which has been widely reported in Taiwanese media.

Three sources familiar with Ma's trip, speaking on condition of

anonymity given the sensitivity of the issue, told Reuters it

was expected to take place in Beijing next Monday.

"This is a trip of peace as well as of friendship," Ma told

reporters in brief remarks at the airport in Taiwan before

flying to the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen in Guangdong

province.

Ma added that he hoped to convey a message that Taiwan's

people love peace and hope to avoid war.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office, which calls him "Mr. Ma

Ying-jeou" rather than former president given neither the

Chinese nor Taiwanese government recognise each other, would

only say last week when asked about a meeting with Xi that it

wished Ma a smooth trip.

Ma's office said while in Guangdong he will visit Chinese

electric vehicle giant BYD and Tencent ( TCTZF ),

the world's largest video game company and operator of China's

WeChat messaging platform.

Ma remains a senior member of Taiwan's main opposition

party the Kuomintang (KMT), which in January lost for the third

time in a row the presidential election, but has no official

party position.

The KMT advocates close ties with China and dialogue, but

strongly denies being pro-Beijing.

Tsai and her ruling Democratic Progressive Party have

repeatedly offered talks with China but been rebuffed, as

Beijing views them as dangerous separatists.

Tsai says only Taiwan's people can decide their future. Her

government strongly objects to China's sovereignty claims.