Kuomintang (KMT) chair Cheng Li-wun has accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping and will travel to mainland China in April, the KMT said in a statement.
Cheng, who became party leader after winning October’s internal election, said she was grateful for the invitation and welcomed the chance to meet. Her party quoted her expressing the hope that the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party could work together to advance peaceful cross-strait relations, increase exchanges and cooperation, preserve peace in the Taiwan Strait, and improve people’s welfare.
Xinhua, China’s state news agency, reported that Cheng’s delegation is scheduled to visit Beijing, Shanghai and Jiangsu province from April 7 to 12. It was not immediately clear whether her itinerary will include a meeting with Xi.
If the visit goes ahead, Cheng would be the first sitting KMT chair to travel to China since 2016, when then-KMT leader Hung Hsiu-chu met Xi. Cheng has said she hopes a meeting with Xi would carry symbolic significance and could help build a foundation for peaceful cross-strait ties, while acknowledging that a single meeting cannot resolve long-standing issues.
Her insistence on meeting Xi before an expected official trip to the United States has drawn criticism both inside and outside the KMT from those who view the move as overly conciliatory toward Beijing. The KMT generally favors closer economic links and more regular exchanges with mainland China, but some party members worry a high-profile meeting could provoke voter backlash ahead of district elections later this year.
Relations between Beijing and Taipei remain fraught: China refuses to engage with the government of President Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing labels a “separatist,” but regularly receives senior KMT figures.
The visit also intersects with a contentious domestic debate over defense spending. President Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has accused Cheng and the KMT of obstructing the government’s plan to secure an additional NT$1.3 trillion (about US$40 billion, €35 billion) in special defense funding. The KMT says it supports strengthening Taiwan’s defenses but opposes signing what it calls “blank cheques,” and has demanded more detailed information on how the money would be used.
Cheng has told foreign media that talks with Xi could be a meaningful symbolic step toward peace, while conceding deeper issues will require sustained effort and follow-up.
Cheng’s planned trip will take place roughly a month before US President Donald Trump is expected in Beijing in mid-May; his summit was postponed from early April because of disruptions related to the conflict in the Middle East.