Historic Move: Taiwan Leader Visits China After 8 Years
Cheng Li-wun begins a cross-strait relations trip to China, marking Taiwan’s first opposition leader visit in years amid rising tensions.
The leader of Taiwan's main opposition party arrived in China today, becoming the first incumbent head of the party in a decade to visit the country.
Hung Hsiu-chu, who assumed the chairmanship of the Kuomintang (KMT) last year, stated that she "gladly accepted" President Xi Jinping's invitation to visit and expressed hope that she would serve as a "bridge of peace."
Beijing severed certain channels of communication with Taiwan following the election of Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party as president in May 2016. Beijing cited Tsai's refusal to endorse the concept of "one Chinese nation" as the reason for this move.
Hung is expected to meet with Xi during the latter part of her six-day visit, which will take her to the cities of Shanghai, Nanjing, and Beijing.
Some analysts note that while the KMT has traditionally maintained cordial relations with China, Hung's eagerness regarding this visit stands in contrast to the more cautious approach toward cross-strait relations adopted by her predecessors.
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William Yang, a Northeast Asia analyst at the non-profit think tank the International Crisis Group, observes that her visit comes amidst growing skepticism toward the United States within Taiwan—"driven primarily by the mixed signals [Donald] Trump has sent regarding Taiwan policy and conflicts in the Middle East."
Yang adds, "Hung views this as an opportunity to position herself as a political leader capable of sustaining cross-strait exchanges and potentially de-escalating tensions."
China regards self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually be reintegrated into the country. And he has not ruled out the possibility of using force to achieve this.
However, many Taiwanese consider themselves part of a distinct nation.
Although the United States maintains formal diplomatic relations with Beijing rather than with Taiwan, it has nevertheless remained the island's largest arms supplier for decades. In recent years, Trump has stated that Taiwan should pay the U.S. for its defense against China.
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Just last week, a bipartisan U.S. delegation visited Taipei and urged the local parliament to pass a special defense spending budget of $40 billion. This proposal is currently stalled in a parliament dominated by the opposition.
This invitation extended to Cheng from the KMT comes just weeks ahead of his scheduled meeting with Trump. Trump is slated to visit Beijing on May 14 and 15. Wen-Ti Sung, a political scientist at the Taiwan Center at the Australian National University, observes: "Beijing seeks to hold a cordial meeting with Taiwan's opposition in order to undermine the rationale behind U.S.-Taiwan defense cooperation."
Sung explains that this would allow China to focus on "making trade deals" with the U.S. during Trump's visit, rather than on resolving cross-strait issues.
For Cheng and the KMT, this could prove politically advantageous ahead of Taiwan's local elections, scheduled for later this year.
Although Cheng began his political career as a proponent of independence, in recent years he has sought to position himself as a peacemaker. "Yang of the International Crisis Group says, 'She is attempting to strike a balance between the U.S. and China... in order to bolster her leadership credentials, while simultaneously highlighting Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te's failure to resume dialogue with China.'"
"However, Chong Ja-Ian, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore, notes that within Taiwan, Cheng's softer stance toward Beijing has proven unpopular."
"Chong observes, 'Many people view Cheng as an "opportunistic" politician—someone who lacks any firm principles of her own and who cares more about holding onto her seat than anything else.'"
"'That is why public opinion polls reveal very low levels of public trust in her.'"
"Chong adds, 'This also implies that she is open to making a deal. Who stands to benefit from this, and to what extent—those are the biggest questions.'"
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