Taiwan’s main opposition leader will travel to China on Tuesday for a rare visit aimed at building “peace” across the strait, but the government warns Beijing will seek to halt US arms sales to the democratic island.
Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Cheng Li-wun, who will become the first party leader to visit China in a decade, has insisted on meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping before she visits the United States – Taiwan’s main security supporter.
The KMT supports closer relations with China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize it.
But Cheng, whose surprise elevation to the top of the KMT drew a congratulatory message from Xi in October, has been accused by critics, including within the party, of being too pro-China.
Before the trip, Taiwan’s top Chinese policy body warned that Beijing would try to “cut off Taiwan’s military purchases from the US and cooperation with other countries,” which the KMT denies.
“This trip is entirely about cross-strait peace and stability, so it has nothing to do with arms procurement or other issues,” Cheng said last week.
Taiwanese lawmakers have been at odds over the government’s plan to spend NT$1.25 trillion ($39 billion) on defense, which has been stalled for months in the opposition-controlled parliament.
Cheng will stay in China for six days, visiting Shanghai, Nanjing and Beijing where he hopes to meet Xi.
While KMT party members regularly fly to China for exchanges with officials, its last leader to visit was Hung Hsiu-chu in 2016.
US pressure
China cut high-level contacts with Taiwan that year after Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party won the presidency and rejected Beijing’s claims to the island.
Cross-strait relations have since worsened as China increased military pressure with near-daily deployments of warplanes and warships near Taiwan and regular large-scale military exercises.
Cheng’s trip to China comes a month before US President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Beijing for a summit with Xi.
The United States has pressured Taiwanese opposition lawmakers to support a proposal for defense purchases, including US weapons, to deter a possible Chinese attack.
Cheng has opposed the government’s proposal, insisting that “Taiwan is not an ATM” and has instead supported a KMT plan to allocate NT$380 billion for US weapons with the option for more purchases.
But she faces deep divisions within her own party over how to counter China’s military threats, with more moderate senior party figures calling for a much higher budget.
While the United States has long been unclear about its willingness to defend Taiwan, Washington remains Taipei’s biggest arms supplier, which angers Beijing.
The United States approved an $11 billion arms sale to Taiwan in December. More deals are in the pipeline, but there have been doubts whether they will go ahead after Xi warned Trump against sending arms to Taiwan.
Cheng has insisted she supports Taiwan having a strong defense, but said the island should not choose between Beijing and Washington.
