![Cheng Li-wun, the first Taiwanese opposition leader to visit Beijing in a decade, shakes hands with Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping in Beijing on April 10. [China Central Television]](/gc9/images/2026/04/10/55540-1-370_237.webp)
By AFP and Focus |
BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping received Taiwanese opposition party leader Cheng Li-wun in Beijing on April 9, telling her delegation that he had "full confidence" that the Taiwanese and Chinese will be united.
Kuomintang (KMT) Party chairwoman Cheng is the KMT's first leader to visit China in a decade. Her trip has sparked debate in Taiwan, where critics accuse her of being too pro-Beijing.
China severed high-level contact with Taiwan in 2016 after Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the presidency and rejected Beijing's claims that the self-ruled island is part of its territory.
The KMT leads the opposition coalition that controls parliament. It supports closer relations with China.
![Taiwanese Kuomintang Party leader Cheng Li-wun and Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping are shown during negotiations in Beijing April 10, during the first visit to China by a Taiwanese opposition leader in a decade. [Li Xiang/Xinhua via AFP]](/gc9/images/2026/04/10/55541-2-370_237.webp)
Unity rhetoric
During his discussions with Cheng, Xi predicted "the general trend of compatriots on both sides of the strait getting closer, edging nearer and becoming united will not change. ... We have full confidence in this."
Beijing will "absolutely not tolerate" Taiwanese independence, said Xi, according to Reuters.
China claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to seize it. China conducts near daily deployments of fighter jets and warships near the island and regular large-scale military drills.
"Both sides should ... seek a systemic solution to prevent and avoid war, so that the Taiwan Strait can become a model for peaceful conflict resolution in the world," said Cheng.
Notably, Cheng made no mention of the "Republic of China" or "Taiwan" during her meeting with Xi.
In response, Lee Kun-cheng, a spokesperson for the DPP, said China must acknowledge the Republic of China (Taiwan) and respect its democratic system. He called for peaceful dialogue over coercion, adding that political negotiations without public oversight are not "democratic consultations."
Taiwanese lawmakers have been at loggerheads over the government's plan to spend 1.25 trillion TWD ($39 billion) on defense purchases over eight years, which the opposition-controlled parliament has stalled for months.
Defense spending
Cheng's trip comes a month before US President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Beijing for a summit with Xi.
Taiwan's ruling DPP has urged the opposition KMT to expedite a review of the stalled defense procurement bill. The call came after KMT lawmakers boycotted cross-party talks on April 9, with Defense Minister Wellington Koo warning of a widening military imbalance across the Taiwan Strait.
Cheng supports a smaller KMT plan to allocate 380 billion TWD ($12 billion) for US weapons with the option for more acquisitions.
While KMT members regularly fly to China for exchanges with officials, the party's last leader to visit was Hung Hsiu-chu in 2016.
Cross-strait relations have worsened in particular since the election of Tsai's successor, Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing considers a separatist.
Lai said in a Facebook post April 10 that "China's ... military threats in and around the Taiwan Strait and the island chain have severely undermined regional peace and stability."
Cheng landed in Shanghai on the evening of April 7. She also went to Nanjing to visit the mausoleum of revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen, one of the few Chinese historical figures revered in both Beijing and Taipei.