Taiwan opposition leader makes rare China visit
Taiwan’s main opposition leader landed in China on Tuesday for a rare visit aimed at building cross-strait “peace,” as the government warns Beijing will seek to stop US arms sales to the democratic island.
Kuomintang (KMT) chair Cheng Li-wun, who is the party’s first leader to visit China in a decade, has insisted on meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping before she visits the United States—Taiwan’s main security backer.
The KMT supports closer relations with China, which claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize it.
But Cheng, whose unexpected rise to the top of the KMT drew a congratulatory message from Xi in October, has been accused by critics of being too pro-China.
Before her departure for Shanghai, Cheng told journalists that Taiwan “must do everything in our power to prevent war from breaking out.”
She has insisted she supports Taiwan having a strong defense, but said the island does not have to choose between Beijing and Washington.
