KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun Confirms April 7–12 China Visit — First KMT Chair Trip in 10 Years

KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun officially confirmed she will lead a party delegation to China from April 7 to 12, 2026, visiting Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Beijing — the first visit by a KMT party chairman to China in a decade (since 2016). The visit follows a formal invitation from the CPC Central Committee and Xi Jinping. Beijing and Taipei both confirmed the itinerary; Cheng described the trip as ushering in a 'new spring' in cross-strait relations. Taiwan's national security establishment expressed concern that the visit is strategically timed to create an 'illusion for the Trump administration that both sides of the Taiwan Strait are leaning toward unification,' which Beijing could leverage to press Trump to reduce or halt arms sales ahead of the May 14–15 Trump-Xi Beijing summit. Analysts note the visit mirrors historical KMT-PRC dialogue trips during periods of elevated tension (2005 Lien Chan, 2005 James Soong), serving dual purposes of mainland goodwill and domestic KMT positioning. Beijing reportedly accelerated the invitation partly to prevent growing internal KMT support for a larger defense budget from materializing into a cross-party consensus before the special budget vote.