Overview
- Kuomintang chair Cheng Li-wun arrived in China for a six-day visit after saying she gladly accepted Xi Jinping's invitation.
- Her itinerary includes Shanghai, Nanjing, and Beijing, with a meeting with Xi reported as expected but not publicly confirmed.
- Premier Cho Jung-tai said the government will monitor the trip, and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party called Cheng subservient to Beijing and the visit choreographed by the Communist Party.
- The trip is the first by a sitting KMT leader to the mainland in a decade and comes as a $40 billion Taiwan defense package remains stalled despite a push from a bipartisan U.S. delegation.
- Analysts say the timing before a planned mid-May Xi–Trump summit could help Beijing weaken support for U.S.–Taiwan defense cooperation as Chinese warplanes and ships continue to patrol near the island.