Taiwan’s main opposition leader said Monday she hopes to “earn deeper trust” from the United States before she leaves for the country where she is expected to be grilled over her party’s stance on China and defense spending.
Kuomintang Chairman Cheng Li-wun’s trip comes two months after her “peaceful” visit to Beijing. where she met with Chinese President Xi Jinping — the first such meeting in a decade — and weeks after US President Donald Trump’s summit with Xi in the Chinese capital.
It also comes after the KMT recently blocked the Taiwanese government’s plan to spend nearly $40 billion on critical weapons, including US weapons and domestically produced drones.
Speaking to reporters before departing for the United States – Taiwan’s most important security supporter – Cheng said she hoped her party could play a key role in regional peace efforts and “earn deeper trust from the US”.
“Only the KMT is truly serious and responsible in taking on the most important role of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” Cheng said at a press conference.
Cheng has shaken Taiwanese politics since her sudden rise to the top of the party last year and drew criticism for being too pro-China.
The KMT has long advocated closer relations with China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize it.
But Cheng’s rhetoric has gone beyond the comfort zone of many in her own party and has caused concern among foreign partners, including Washington.
‘Sharp Questions’
Over the next two weeks, Cheng will visit San Francisco, Boston, New York, Washington and Los Angeles. She plans to meet with US lawmakers, government officials, think tanks and supporters along her itinerary.
Analysts told AFP that US government officials and lawmakers are likely to question Cheng about the KMT’s stance on China and its decision to cut the government’s special defense budget.
While Taiwan has its own defense industry, it remains heavily dependent on the United States for weapons to deter a possible attack from China.
But there are concerns in Taipei over Washington’s commitment after Trump recently suggested arms sales to the island could be a bargaining chip with China.
Compared to her trip to China, Cheng can expect “much less pomposity and much sharper questions” in the United States, said Ryan Hass, a China and Taiwan expert at the Washington-based Brookings Institution.
“Her challenge will be to convince Washington that KMT engagement with China can coexist with strong deterrence,” Hass wrote in a recent opinion piece in the Taipei Times newspaper.
Jason Hsu, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a former KMT lawmaker, said Cheng will face “a lot of serious questions from the administration and Congress about the KMT’s tilt toward Beijing.”
The KMT and Taiwan People’s Party, which jointly control parliament, recently passed a $25 billion defense spending bill limited to US weapons.
It ruled out procuring Taiwanese-made drones, which the government has said is critical to developing domestic manufacturing capacity to support its forces during a war.
