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Taiwan opposition leader Cheng Li-wun arrived in China on Tuesday at the invitation of President Xi Jinping, in what she’s calling a “journey for peace” as Beijing continued its decades-long push for the self-ruled island to come under its control.
The visit is the first by a Taiwanese opposition leader in a decade and comes ahead of a meeting in Beijing between Xi and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, scheduled for May.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s opposition-controlled parliament has stalled its government’s attempts to pass a $40 billion (€34.2 billion) special defence budget, expected to fund arms deals with the US and the development of Taiwan’s domestic defence industry.
China claims the self-ruled island as its own territory and has not excluded the use of force to take it.
Beijing has been ramping up its military pressure against the island by regularly sending warplanes and naval vessels near it, while its military occasionally stages live-fire drills around it, the latest in December.
The US State Department said such activities “increase tensions unnecessarily” and called on Beijing to cease military pressure against Taiwan.
Before leaving Taipei, the chairperson of the Kuomintang party (KMT) told reporters that Taiwan must spare no effort to prevent war and seize any opportunity to promote peace.
A few dozen supporters and detractors of Cheng showed up at Taipei’s airport, chanting slogans and holding signs.
“The purpose of this visit to mainland China is precisely to show the world that it is not just Taiwan that unilaterally hopes for peace,” she said.
“I believe that through this journey for peace, everyone is even more eager to see the sincerity and determination of the CPC Central Committee to use peaceful dialogue and exchange to resolve all possible differences between the two sides,” added Cheng.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday that relations with Taiwan were part of China’s internal affairs. “China’s opposition to military ties between the US and Taiwan is consistent and clear,” said spokesperson Mao Ning.
Beijing has repeatedly criticised Washington’s weapons sales to Taiwan, in particular a massive deal announced by the Trump administration in December, valued at more than $11 billion (€9.4 billion), which includes medium-range missiles, howitzers and drones.
China prohibits all its diplomatic partners, including the US, from maintaining formal ties with Taipei. Washington is the island’s strongest informal backer and weapons provider, and the arms sale is expected to be discussed at the Xi-Trump summit.
During a February call between Xi and Trump, the Chinese leader said that “Taiwan will never be allowed to separate from China.”
It was unclear whether Cheng would meet with Xi as part of her six-day trip to China, which started in the eastern metropolis of Shanghai and is set to conclude in Beijing.
Her visit contrasts with Beijing’s treatment of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, with whom China does not engage, labelling him a “separatist”.
Lai’s party views Taiwan as a sovereign country, not a subordinate to China. The KMT, meanwhile, officially recognises only one China — the Republic of China — which before 1949 included the mainland and is today Taiwan’s official name.
Taiwan has been governed separately from China since 1949, when a civil war brought the Communist Party to power in Beijing. Defeated KMT forces fled to Taiwan, where they set up their own government.
Additional sources • AP