TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — KMT Chair Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) will travel to China on Tuesday on what she describes as a “peace mission,” Reuters reported Monday.
Cheng, the leader of Taiwan’s largest opposition party, could meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping as Chinese military pressure on Taiwan intensifies. Her visit comes as the KMT-dominated legislature delays a government plan for NT$1.28 trillion (US$40 billion) in additional defense spending, per NBC.
The KMT and ruling DPP have clashed over the visit on social media, using contrasting imagery of war and peace. The KMT released a video of young people smiling under the stars, emphasizing that “peace is the only foundation for prosperity.” The DPP countered, saying the KMT was “cooperating with Beijing to weaken Taiwan’s defense capabilities.”
Cheng told reporters last month that “peace cannot possibly be achieved through defense capabilities alone” and that political efforts are equally important. She will visit China a month before US President Donald Trump’s summit with Xi, where cross-strait tensions are expected to feature prominently alongside trade issues.
This marks the first KMT leader visit to China in a decade, though a meeting between Xi and Cheng has not been confirmed. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council urged her to demand that Beijing halt military threats and respect Taiwan’s right to choose its future, noting that China refuses to speak with President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), whom it labels a “separatist.”
China continues to publicize its “peaceful reunification” agenda while continuing to use gray-zone tactics in the Taiwan Strait and elsewhere to coerce Taiwan. Recent propaganda, including a cartoon showing a unified Taiwan during the Tomb Sweeping Festival, underscores Beijing’s messaging efforts, which have been largely rejected by the Taiwanese public.
Cheng said the time is not yet right to discuss reunification, emphasizing that “what we need to deal with now is how to create peaceful and stable cross-strait relations.” Opinion polls show only tiny levels of support in Taiwan for acceding to the political demands of Beijing.
