KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun Arrives in Shanghai for Historic 'Journey for Peace'

Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang party, arrived in Shanghai on Tuesday for a six-day visit to China she described as a "historic journey for peace," marking the first trip by a sitting KMT leader to the mainland in a decade. Cheng, a former talk show host and parliamentarian who took over the KMT chairmanship in November 2025, said she "gladly accepted" President Xi Jinping's invitation. Before departing Taipei's airport, where a few dozen supporters and detractors gathered to chant and hold signs, she told reporters that Taiwan must spare no effort to prevent war.

„If you truly love Taiwan, you will seize even the slightest chance, every possible opportunity, to keep Taiwan from being ravaged by war.” — Cheng Li-wun via Reuters

Beijing has not confirmed whether Xi will meet Cheng, but she is expected to arrive in Beijing on Thursday, after stops in Shanghai and Nanjing. The visit is the first by a KMT leader to China since November 2016, when then-party leader Hung Hsiu-chu met Xi in Beijing, according to Adnkronos.

Five Chinese warships surround Taiwan as Cheng departs The trip unfolded against a backdrop of heightened Chinese military activity around Taiwan. Kuan Bi-ling, head of Taiwan's Ocean Affairs Council, posted a picture on her Facebook account late Monday showing five Chinese warships deployed around the island — two off the east coast and one each to the north, northwest, and southwest.

„When you depart, you are doing so from within what they see as the 'Taiwan cage'.” — Kuan Bi-ling via Reuters

Taiwan's top China policy official, Mainland Affairs Council minister Chiu Chui-cheng, speaking separately at parliament, called on Cheng to demand that Beijing immediately stop military aircraft and naval harassment against Taiwan. China has been sending warplanes and naval vessels toward Taiwan on a near-daily basis and staged two major military exercises around the island in recent months, the most recent in December following a U.S. arms sale announcement. The U.S. State Department said such activities "increase tensions unnecessarily" and called on Beijing to cease military pressure against Taiwan.

KMT stalls $40 billion defense budget as Cheng heads to Beijing Cheng's visit carries significant domestic political weight, as the opposition-dominated parliament has stalled Taiwan's government plan for

40 (billion USD) — Taiwan special defense budget stalled in parliament

in extra defense spending. A bipartisan U.S. delegation visited Taipei just last week to urge parliament to pass the budget, according to the BBC. The Trump administration announced in December 2025 a package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10 billion, including medium-range missiles, howitzers, and drones, which angered Beijing. In a February call between Xi and U.S. President Donald Trump, Xi stated that "Taiwan will never be allowed to separate from China" and that the "U.S. must handle the issue of arms sales to Taiwan with prudence," according to a Chinese government statement. Analysts cited by the Financial Times said Beijing would likely use a potential Cheng-Xi meeting to reinforce its objection to U.S. arms sales. Cheng has been accused by Taiwan President Lai Ching-te's ruling Democratic Progressive Party of accommodating Beijing's interests by blocking government defense spending plans, a charge the KMT rejects.

Analysts see Beijing orchestrating visit ahead of Trump summit The trip comes roughly a month before Xi is scheduled to meet Trump in Beijing on May 14 and 15, a summit at which Taiwan policy and the arms sales are expected to feature prominently. Analysts cited by multiple outlets said Beijing is using Cheng's visit strategically.

„The Chinese government is trying to show the US that it has its own direct line of communication and engagement with Taiwan, and this interlocutor is willing to align her policy position and rhetoric with that of Beijing's narrative.” — William Yang via Financial Times

Wen-ti Sung, a political scientist at the Australian National University's Taiwan Centre, told the BBC that Beijing wants a cordial meeting with Taiwan's opposition to "undermine the argument for US-Taiwan defence cooperation," allowing China to focus on "cutting business deals" with the U.S. during Trump's visit. Song Tao, director of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said last week that the invitation for Cheng's trip came at the KMT leader's own request. Some analysts noted in the Financial Times that the ongoing U.S. military engagement in Iran could factor into Beijing's calculations regarding Taiwan, though Gabriel Wildau of Teneo argued an opportunistic move against Taiwan remained unlikely in the near term.

The KMT governed Taiwan under martial law until 1987 and relocated to the island from mainland China in 1949 following its defeat by the Communist Party in the Chinese Civil War. The party has historically maintained warmer ties with Beijing than the rival Democratic Progressive Party, which opposes surrendering Taiwan's sovereignty claims. Beijing cut off formal communications with Taipei after DPP leader Tsai Ing-wen became president in May 2016, citing her refusal to endorse the concept of a single Chinese nation. The last KMT leader to visit China and meet Xi was Hung Hsiu-chu in November 2016. Cheng Li-wun is the second woman to serve as KMT chairperson, after Hung Hsiu-chu.

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