By Li Hsien-chih | 2025-10-31

Former legislator Cheng Li-wun won more than half of the votes in the Kuomintang (KMT)'s recent leadership election, becoming only the second woman ever to chair the party.

Despite losing three consecutive presidential races to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the KMT still has strong influence in Taiwan. A KMT-led coalition controls parliament, bottling up the DPP's agenda.

The KMT, founded in China more than a century ago, fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the Chinese civil war. Unlike the DPP, it considers Taiwan part of China and supports reunification someday.

Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control. It insists that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to "one China," with the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate government.

Ex-DPP member

Cheng, 55, began her career in the DPP before joining the KMT in 2005.

She represented both parties in multiple stints in parliament.

Cheng ran for KMT chair on a platform of "promoting peace across the Taiwan Strait."

She vowed to end the KMT's losing streak in presidential races, regain power in 2028 and make it possible for all Taiwanese to "proudly and confidently say, 'I am Chinese.'"

Cheng's election is widely seen as a turning point for her aging party and a new source of uncertainty in cross-strait policy.

Chinese interference

But during the campaign, widespread allegations of Chinese interference surfaced.

An investigation by Mirror Weekly in late October reported a flood of short videos and artificial-intelligence-generated virtual anchors promoting Cheng on social media.

Citing anonymous sources, the report said the Chinese People's Liberation Army's Cyberspace Force likely coordinated the operation and funneled it through Taiwanese businesspeople and party networks to influence delegate votes.

Investigators found about 1,000 TikTok and YouTube videos related to the KMT leadership election, with half of the YouTube accounts registered outside Taiwan, National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen told lawmakers.

Neither the National Security Act nor the Anti-Infiltration Act explicitly covers intra-party elections, he said.

Justin Wu, DPP spokesperson, urged the KMT to guard against infiltration by China's forces and not become "an accomplice in the CCP [Chinese Communist Party]'s cognitive warfare."

Cheng called the allegations "cheap political labeling that underestimates voters' wisdom."

Congratulations from Xi

Less than 24 hours after Cheng's victory, Chinese leader Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message.

Xi urged both sides to "advance national reunification" based on the 1992 Consensus, Xinhua reported.

Under that consensus, the KMT and CCP affirm that Taiwan is part of China. The DPP refuses to endorse it.

In her reply to Xi, Cheng emphasized both sides of the Strait belong to the Chinese nation and envisioned "a grand future for national rejuvenation."

Beijing is using the exchange to portray the KMT as a political partner in advancing reunification, analysts of cross-strait relations said.

Cheng's Beijing-friendly platform

An unabashed friend of Beijing now chairs the KMT.

In her campaign, Cheng advocated restoring the 1992 Consensus and stressed that both sides of the Strait "belong to one China."

She also promoted the slogan "Collaboration between the strong -- one plus one is greater than two."

If Beijing shows goodwill, she would be "willing to meet Xi Jinping a hundred times," Cheng said.

Chen Shih-min, a political science professor at National Taiwan University, described Cheng Li-wun as "the most pro-China and pro-reunification" of the six chair candidates, according to BBC Chinese.

The election "has turned the KMT from blue to red," Taiwanese-Japanese journalist Akio Yaita said on a Taiwanese news show, meaning a switch from the KMT's official color to the CCP's.

CCP forces may now intervene more directly in Taiwan's politics and "cross-strait contradictions and conflicts will become an even closer-quarters fight," he said.

Potential backlash

Although the KMT controls parliament, an overly pro-Beijing stance could trigger a public backlash, domestic observers said.

In a 2023 Taiwanese poll, only 3% of respondents identified themselves as "primarily Chinese."

Upon taking office, Cheng's immediate challenge will be preparing for the 2026 local elections. Handling cross-strait issues will be a major test, analysts say.

"Steering this ship won't be easy, but we must at least steer clear of the obvious icebergs," said Pai Chiao-yin, secretary-general of the KMT caucus on the Kaohsiung City Council, urging the new chairwoman not to alienate centrist voters.

Public support for the KMT actually fell from 25.2% to 21.9% a few days before the election -- a 3.3-point decline, according to a poll that the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy conducted October 13–15 and published on October 21.

Whether Cheng's embrace of China can gain majority approval, and how Taiwan balances sovereignty with security, will shape the future of cross-strait relations.