KMT Visit to Beijing Provides Propaganda Victory for China, Taiwan Legislators Claim

Taiwan Opposition Leader Meets with Xi Jinping Amid Controversy

Kuomintang (KMT) chair Cheng Li-wun traveled to Beijing this week for a high-profile meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, sparking intense debate in Taiwan over the implications of the cross-strait engagement. The meeting, widely referred to as the “Cheng-Xi summit” in Taiwanese media, represents the latest chapter in the complex relationship between Taiwan’s main opposition party and mainland China.

The visit’s announcement came not from Cheng or the KMT but from the Taiwan Affairs Office, a Chinese government body responsible for cross-strait relations. Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was quick to criticize the sequence of events, claiming that Cheng had “expressed her desire for such a meeting multiple times” before Beijing finally extended an invitation, suggesting that China deliberately wanted to demonstrate its control over the agenda.

Cheng defended the visit by positioning it within a historical context, noting that former KMT chairs Lien Chan and Ma Ying-jeou had made similar trips to Beijing during their tenures. She described her mission as sending “a message of peace to the world.”

The summit occurs against a backdrop of heightened tensions in the Taiwan Strait, with China increasingly assertive in its territorial claims over Taiwan, which it considers a breakaway province. Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China, has been self-governed since 1949 when the KMT retreated to the island following the Chinese Civil War.

The DPP, which favors a stronger Taiwanese identity and has resisted Beijing’s unification agenda, issued a scathing critique of the KMT’s Beijing engagement history through a statement on its China Affairs Department’s Facebook page. The party alleged that KMT leaders have consistently failed to affirm Taiwan’s sovereignty in their meetings with Chinese officials, instead making concessions that “shrank Taiwan’s status and served the CCP’s political objectives.”

Perhaps the most serious accusation came in the form of an alleged quid pro quo arrangement. The DPP claimed that the KMT had deliberately obstructed arms procurement budgets and blocked negotiations on a Taiwan-U.S. trade agreement, not on principle, but as political payment to Beijing in exchange for access to Xi Jinping. “The Kuomintang must stop serving as a united-front pawn and an internal agent of Taiwan’s destruction,” the statement read.

DPP legislator Cheng Yun-peng, publicly known as Fan Yun, raised specific concerns about how Beijing might leverage the summit internationally. She disputed Cheng Li-wun’s assertion that “the one-China policy is the mainstream position of the world,” citing recent resolutions passed by democratic legislatures worldwide affirming that the People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan.

“They will use this meeting for international propaganda,” Fan Yun warned, “to lock Taiwan back into the one-China framework and erase the breakthroughs Taiwan has achieved internationally in recent years.”

Fan Yun also expressed concern about the summit’s potential impact on Taiwan’s defense posture, warning that framing the visit as a contribution “to peace across the strait and for humanity” might undermine public resolve to maintain robust defensive capabilities. She emphasized that genuine peace requires “equal dignity” and cannot be achieved by accepting the so-called 1992 Consensus, a formula that Beijing uses to assert that both sides acknowledge a single China.

“This kind of peace, reached by kneeling before the journey has even begun, would trade away the democratic and free way of life we cherish,” she said.

The summit comes at a sensitive time for Taiwan-China relations, with Beijing increasing military pressure through frequent incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone and large-scale military exercises around the island. Meanwhile, Taiwan continues to strengthen its international partnerships, particularly with the United States, which remains its most important security partner despite not maintaining formal diplomatic relations.

As Cheng Li-wun continues her visit to mainland China, observers will be closely watching for any joint statements or agreements that might emerge from her discussions with Xi Jinping, and their potential implications for Taiwan’s domestic politics ahead of future elections.