TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — KMT Chair Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit to China on Tuesday comes amid doubts about its success, as well as internal party tensions, Nikkei Asia reported.
Cheng is expected to adhere to former President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) “1992 consensus” and opposition to “Taiwan independence,” while focusing on economic cooperation and cultural exchanges, per Nikkei. She will visit Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Beijing over six days.
A KMT source worried that Cheng’s DPP past and failure to win a public election as a KMT politician could limit her contributions to the party and Taiwanese society, according to Nikkei. Her visit comes as the KMT is blocking President Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$40 billion) special defense budget, while Lai’s approval ratings are improving.
The source said the DPP could use Cheng’s trip as an excuse to blame the KMT for its failures and accuse the party of undermining national defense, per Nikkei. “I think Cheng should still visit [China] despite the criticisms. The question is if she is aware of the risks and what’s at stake,” the source said.
Kurt Tong, managing partner at The Asia Group and a former US diplomat, told Nikkei earlier this year that if Cheng “travels to Beijing and is very familiar and friendly with the leadership there, she’ll be viewed with some suspicion in the US, just because the general framing in the US, for better or worse, is the friend of my adversary is not my friend.”
Meanwhile, former KMT chair Eric Chu (朱立倫) and Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) have expressed support for more defense spending than Cheng. Some party members linked to Chu have also distanced themselves from Cheng, Nikkei said.
Additionally, Ma’s foundation publicly criticized Cheng’s deputy, Hsiao Hsu-cheng (蕭旭岑), who helped her establish ties with Beijing. Hsiao was investigated for alleged misuse of funds.
Ma met Xi in Singapore in November 2015, seven months after the Sunflower Movement, which protested a proposed trade agreement with China. The two met again in 2024.
