Command Palette

Search for a command to run...

Discover

Taiwan’s KMT Leader Cheng Li-wun Begins Xi-Invited Peace Visit to China

Taiwan’s KMT Leader Cheng Li-wun Begins Xi-Invited Peace Visit to China
View gallery

Taiwan’s main opposition leader Cheng Li-wun arrived in Shanghai on Tuesday to begin a six-day visit to China at the personal invitation of President Xi Jinping, a rare high-level cross-strait engagement that she billed as a “peace mission” and critics in Taipei warned could undermine the island’s security and U.S. ties bbc +1. The trip comes as Taiwan’s legislature, where Cheng’s Kuomintang (KMT) holds significant sway, has stalled roughly US$40 billion in additional defence spending amid sustained Chinese military pressure around the island japantimes +1.

Peace Mission or Political Stage for Beijing?

Cheng, who became KMT chair last year, is the first sitting leader of the party to visit the mainland in about a decade, with a route that includes Shanghai, Nanjing and Beijing and an expected meeting with Xi later in the week bbc +1. She said she “gladly accepted” Xi’s invitation and hopes to act as a “bridge for peace,” arguing that “if you truly love Taiwan, you will seize even the slightest chance…to keep Taiwan from being ravaged by war” bbc +1. Beijing has framed the trip as promoting “peaceful development” and cross-strait exchanges, while highlighting Cheng’s planned homage at the mausoleum of Republic of China founder Sun Yat-sen in Nanjing as a symbol of shared history nbcnews +1.

Supporters inside the KMT say reopening party-to-party dialogue and reaffirming the contested “1992 Consensus” can lower tensions and revive trade, tourism and student exchanges that shrank after the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) took power peopledaily. But analysts note that Beijing refuses to talk to President Lai Ching-te’s government and instead is elevating Cheng as a preferred interlocutor, a move seen as an attempt to shape Taiwan’s political trajectory while sidelining its elected administration nytimes +1.

Domestic Backlash and Security Stakes

The DPP government has reacted coolly, warning Cheng not to make concessions on sovereignty and urging her to press Beijing to end near-daily People’s Liberation Army air and naval activity around Taiwan bbc +1. Lai stressed that “Taiwan is not a part of the People’s Republic of China and has the right to pursue a way of life that values democracy, freedom, and human rights,” while accusing the KMT of “short-changing Taiwan’s defence to kowtow to the CCP” reuters. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council has suggested Xi is using the visit to weaken U.S.-Taiwan defence cooperation, as Washington prepares a reported US$14 billion arms package and ahead of a planned Xi–Trump summit in mid-May dw +1.

The timing has alarmed some U.S. lawmakers, who visited Taipei last week urging swift passage of the defence budget and cautioning Taiwan not to be “naive” about Beijing’s intentions after Hong Kong’s political overhaul caledonianrecord. Within the KMT itself, Cheng’s overtly China-friendly stance has exposed ideological rifts, with party figures divided over how far to lean into engagement as public opinion in Taiwan continues to harden against unification after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Beijing’s crackdowns at home nytimes.

Looking Ahead

Cheng’s meetings in Beijing — and any joint statements with Xi — are expected to be dissected in Taipei, Washington and other regional capitals for signs of new political formulas or shifts in Taiwan’s security posture. Even if the visit reduces short-term rhetorical friction, it takes place against a backdrop of unchanged Chinese military coercion and unresolved disputes over sovereignty, leaving open the question of whether symbolic gestures can meaningfully lower the risk of conflict in the Taiwan Strait japantimes +1.