By Joyce Huang | 2026-04-16

Taiwan's Kuomintang (KMT) Party Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun has jeopardized the democratic island's international legal footing by seeking Chinese President Xi Jinping's consent for Taiwan's inclusion in international organizations, pro-democracy activists in Taipei say.

The KMT is the main opposition party in Taiwan. It leads a coalition that controls parliament and wants closer ties to Beijing.

Cheng aroused criticism in Taiwan last week by journeying to China for talks with Xi. She was the first KMT chair to visit China in 10 years.

"This is definitely a step backwards," Lai Chung-chiang, a rights lawyer and convener of the Economic Democracy Union (EDU), a civil society group, told Focus.

"Cheng has done Beijing's bidding to help downgrade Taiwan's status as a province under China again, which won't help expand Taiwan's international recognition at all," he added.

Lai made the comment after he and EDU supporters demonstrated in front of the KMT's headquarters in Taipei on April 14.

'Phony peace'

Cheng's endorsement of Beijing's "one China" rhetoric during her trip to China could bring Taiwan a "phony peace" while she colludes with Xi's plans for absorbing Taiwan, said the protesters.

China considers Taiwan a renegade province and has threatened repeatedly to seize it.

At their April 10 meeting, Cheng and Xi reaffirmed the "1992 consensus" -- a tacit understanding that Beijing and Taiwan's then-KMT government reached in 1992. It holds that there is "one China," with each side having its own interpretation of what the phrase means.

After their talks, Cheng told a news conference in Beijing that she had asked China to support Taiwan's inclusion in international organizations such as the World Health Assembly (WHA), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

No confirmation

When asked how Xi responded to her request, Cheng said that Xi "responded very positively," Taiwan's Central News Agency reported.

But Chinese state media have not mentioned Cheng's alleged request for Taiwan's inclusion in international organizations.

Nor did it appear on Beijing's unilateral release of 10 preferential policies toward Taiwan on April 12.

The silence from Beijing could mean that Xi "ignored or rejected" Cheng's proposal for enhancing Taiwan's international participation, said Lai of the EDU.

Even if Xi did welcome Cheng's request, he will condition future access to global forums on Taiwan's subordination to China as a mere renegade province, said Lai.

Bullying by Beijing

With Beijing's consent, Taiwan attended sessions of the WHA, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization, as an observer under the designation of "Chinese Taipei" from 2009 to 2016. That period fell within KMT member Ma Ying-jeou's two terms as president of Taiwan (2008 to 2016).

But since 2016, when the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) reclaimed the presidency, Beijing has blocked Taiwan from attending WHA sessions.

Taiwan has suffered an even longer absence from sessions of the ICAO assembly, dating back to 2013.

The DPP insists that Taiwan is an independent sovereign state. It rejects Beijing's "one China principle" and the 1992 consensus.

In late March, Taipei skipped a high-level World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting, the first time it had done so since joining the WTO in 2002. The host nation Cameroon had designated the democratic island as "Taiwan, Province of China" on paperwork issued to Taiwan's delegation beforehand.

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry lodged a "stern protest" with Cameroon, which the ministry said showed no intention of resolving the dispute

Legal footing

Taiwan under the DPP's rule has worked hard to gain global support for its inclusion or "meaningful participation" in the international community, said Lai of the EDU.

That is the right path forward, rather than letting Beijing call Taiwan a part of China, he said.

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry, in an April 10 statement, reiterated that Taiwan "has every right to participate in international organizations including the United Nations. And China has no say in this."

Other than undermining Taiwan's international legal footing, Cheng's framing of cross-strait relations as a domestic Chinese matter could affect global support for Taiwan, according to Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC).

"If the Taiwan issue is portrayed as China's internal affair, it raises concerns over how the international community could step in when Taiwan faces difficulties," MAC Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh said at a news conference in Taipei on April 10.

Meanwhile, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), Washington's diplomatic outpost in Taipei, urged China to engage in "unconditional dialogue" with Taiwan's democratically elected authorities as well as with all political parties in Taiwan.

"We expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the Strait," the AIT said in a statement on April 10.