Taiwan KMT Leader Meets Xi Jinping in Beijing After 10 Years
Quick Reads
- Kuomintang chairperson Cheng Li-wun met Chinese President Xi Jinping at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Friday, April 10, the first such meeting between the two parties’ leaders since 2015.
- Xi publicly affirmed openness to peaceful cross-strait ties while warning that Taiwan independence remains the principal threat to peace in the strait.
- Cheng framed the visit as a peace mission, signalling that the KMT would not pursue a defence-and-deterrence approach to war prevention.
- Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te responded by warning that compromising with authoritarian regimes comes at the cost of sovereignty and democracy.
- Analysts say the meeting holds more strategic value for Beijing than for the KMT, giving China a channel of political influence while official cross-strait contact remains frozen.
The Meeting
Kuomintang chairperson Cheng Li-wun sat down with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Friday, April 10, the first meeting between the leaders of China’s Communist Party and Taiwan’s largest opposition party since 2015. Cheng is the highest-ranking Taiwanese political figure to meet Xi since former President Ma Ying-jeou spoke with the Chinese leader in Singapore more than a decade ago, according to Al Jazeera.
The two held a closed-door session following a public photo exchange. Before arriving in Beijing, Cheng had spent several days in Shanghai and Nanjing, where she laid a wreath at the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, a gesture laden with historical symbolism, invoking the founder of the KMT itself.
What Xi Said
In his public remarks, Xi told Cheng that people on both sides of the strait are one family, and affirmed China’s openness to peaceful cross-strait development. He went further in comments carried by China’s state news agency Xinhua, warning that “Taiwan independence” is the principal threat to peace in the strait and that Beijing would neither condone nor tolerate it. Xi also declared that the historical trajectory toward the two sides coming together will not change, and that Beijing remains fully confident in that direction.
What Cheng Said, and What It Signals
Cheng framed the trip as a peace mission rather than a political concession. She signalled, according to Al Jazeera, that the KMT under her leadership would not pursue a defence-and-deterrence approach to war prevention, a position Atlantic Council fellow Wen-ti Sung interpreted as a message that Taiwan should slow its military buildup and scale back US arms purchases. That stance has immediate domestic consequences. Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te has requested a $40 billion, eight-year investment in advanced weapon systems, a defence bill the KMT-led legislature has stalled for months.
Lai’s Rebuke
Lai did not comment directly on the Beijing meeting, but issued a pointed statement on Friday. “History tells us that compromising with authoritarian regimes only comes at the cost of sovereignty and democracy, and will not bring freedom or peace,” he wrote on Facebook. Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party has consistently accused the KMT of weakening national security through its opposition to the defense budget and its outreach to Beijing.
The Bigger Picture: Trump, Tariffs, and Taiwan
Analysts note that the timing of the meeting carries significance well beyond the Taiwan Strait. Xi is scheduled to host US President Donald Trump in Beijing next month, with cross-strait policy expected to feature prominently in that agenda. Washington remains Taiwan’s primary arms supplier, the Trump administration approved a record $11 billion in arms sales to Taipei last year, a move that drew sanctions from Beijing against multiple US defense firms.
The 1992 Consensus Question
Both Xi and Cheng reiterated their support for the 1992 Consensus and their opposition to Taiwan independence, though the two sides interpret “one China” in markedly different ways. Beijing has never formally acknowledged the KMT’s reading of that arrangement, according to reporting by WSLS. Taiwan expert Ma Chun-wei of Tamkang University told AP the meeting holds more strategic value for Xi than for Cheng, giving Beijing a channel of influence over Taiwan’s domestic politics at a time when official government-to-government contact has been frozen since the DPP took power.
