Kuomintang chairwoman Cheng Li-wun arrived in China for a six-day visit spanning Shanghai, Nanjing, and Beijing, where she expects to meet President Xi Jinping after accepting what she calls his invitation. Cheng, who became KMT chair in 2023, is the first incumbent KMT chief to visit China in a decade and frames the trip as a 'journey of peace' to bridge Taiwan-China relations after Beijing cut communications with Taiwan in 2016 over President Tsai Ing-wen's refusal to endorse a single Chinese nation. Taiwan's ruling DPP criticized the visit as subservience to Beijing, while polls show Cheng's accommodating stance toward China remains unpopular domestically ahead of local elections later in 2024. The visit occurs amid continued Chinese military activity around Taiwan and as a US bipartisan delegation urges Taiwan's opposition-dominated parliament to pass a stalled $40 billion defense spending budget.
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