Taiwanese opposition leader’s ‘peace’ visit to China first in 10 years

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan’s main opposition leader will make a rare trip to China on Tuesday, with Beijing expected to use the visit to increase its influence over the democratic island.

Cheng Li-wun, who will become the first sitting chairperson of the Kuomintang (KMT) to travel to China in a decade, said she wants to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping to build cross-strait “peace.”

Taiwanese officials and experts, however, say Xi sees an opportunity to reinforce Cheng’s standing in the KMT and stymie further US weapons sales to Taiwan.

The KMT has long advocated for closer relations with China, which claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threated to use force to seize it.

But Cheng, whose unexpected rise to the top of the KMT drew congratulations from Xi in October, has been accused by critics, including inside the party, of being too pro-China.

Cheng’s visit comes as the United States — Taiwan’s most important security backer — intensifies pressure on Taiwanese opposition lawmakers to approve a proposal for defense purchases, including billions of dollars worth of US weapons, to deter a potential Chinese attack.

The KMT leader, who has railed against the government’s NT$1.25 trillion ($39 billion) plan, faces deepening divisions inside her party over how to counter China’s military threats.

Cheng backed a KMT proposal to allocate NT$380 billion for US weapons with the option for more acquisitions, but more moderate senior figures in the party are pushing for a much higher budget.

Beijing sees “a need to rescue Cheng Li-wun” from a “power crisis,” Albert Tzeng, a former KMT adviser, told Agence France-Presse.

Xi’s endorsement of Cheng will make her critics wary of attacking her, Tzeng said.

And Xi, who has tied taking Taiwan to his vision of the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” can show Beijing is “not losing Taiwan altogether to the United States,” he said.

Taiwan’s top China policy body warned Beijing had “summoned” Cheng for the purpose of cutting off “Taiwan’s military purchases from the US and cooperation with other countries.”