BEIJING: The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, have invited Cheng Li-wun, chairperson of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party, to visit the Chinese mainland from April 7 to 12, a CPC official announced on Monday, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
Song Tao, head of the Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee, was authorized to announce that Cheng is welcome to lead a KMT delegation to visit Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing on the mainland.
Song noted that since taking office, Cheng has expressed her willingness to visit the mainland on multiple occasions, and that the invitation was extended to promote relations between the CPC and the KMT and the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations.
The two sides will carry out communication regarding the visit to make proper arrangements, Song said.
Cheng on Monday expressed her thanks and accepted the invitation to visit the Chinese mainland in April, according to Xinhua. Cheng expressed the hope that both parties will work together to promote the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations, enhance exchanges and cooperation, contribute to peace in the Taiwan Straits, and improve people’s well-being.
Back in October 2025, Xi congratulated Cheng on being elected chairperson of the KMT, according to Xinhua.
Xi expressed his expectations for the two political parties to strengthen their common political foundation and unite the vast majority of people in Taiwan to deepen exchanges and cooperation, boost common development, and advance national reunification, Xinhua reported at that time. He also called on both parties to firmly safeguard the shared home of the Chinese nation and the fundamental interests of people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, and to work together for a brighter future of the Chinese nation, according to Xinhua.
During a press conference on Monday morning, Cheng said that there is broad international support for the one-China policy and opposition to “Taiwan independence”, adding that this also reflects the mainstream aspirations of people in Taiwan. She said she hopes her planned April visit to the mainland can help usher in a warmer “spring” in cross-Straits relations, according to Taiwan media outlet LTN.
Cheng also noted that a decade has passed since the last mainland visit by a sitting KMT chairperson, and she hopes the trip can serve as a successful first step toward peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits. Cheng said her visit is intended to demonstrate to both the people of Taiwan and the wider world that the two sides of the Straits are not destined for conflict. Instead, she said, they can draw on their own wisdom and efforts to open a broad path toward peace.
Peace across the Taiwan Straits, she said, is not only Taiwan’s hope but also an expectation from the mainland. “We are willing to make active contributions to peace across the Taiwan Straits and to peace for humanity,” Cheng said, per LTN.
The upcoming visit marks the first by a KMT leader in about a decade, signaling a restoration of top-level engagement between the CPC and the KMT and serving as an opportunity to promote mutual understanding and political trust between the two parties and cross-Straits exchanges, analysts said.
Peace and development are the shared aspiration of people on both sides of the Straits and also reflect the mainstream wishes of the Taiwan public. Yet as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities intensify “de-Sinicization” and other “Taiwan independence”-related moves, further increasing risks in the Taiwan Straits, there is a growing need for political figures willing to engage on key cross-Straits topics. In that context, Cheng’s move could be seen as responding to a real and pressing need, Zheng Jian, a professor at the Taiwan Research Institute of Xiamen University, told the Global Times.
The CPC-KMT exchange mechanism has been in place for more than 20 years since 2005, with high-level meetings forming part of it. In this sense, Cheng’s visit is seen as the restoration of top-level engagement between the CPC and the KMT, Zheng Jian said.
In 2005, former KMT chairman Lien Chan visited Chinese mainland cities, a trip he described as a “historic first step” for the promotion of cross-Straits relations, according to media report.
At the press conference, Cheng also noted that in 2005, former KMT chairman Lien Chan invited her to join the party to help advance the historic ice-breaking “journey of peace” to the mainland She served as spokesperson for the delegation during that visit, which was also the first time she had ever set foot on the mainland, according to a report from the United Daily News.
From Lien Chan and Ma Ying-jeou to her own visit to the mainland, these exchanges have all been conducted on the common political foundation of opposing “Taiwan independence” and upholding the 1992 Consensus — a basis, she said, for avoiding war and creating peace, said Cheng.
Zheng Jian added that Cheng has, since becoming party chair, aligned herself with the mainstream desire in Taiwan for peace and stability across the Straits. Her calls for peace and recognition that people on both sides of the Straits are Chinese have helped lay the groundwork for the visit. –The Daily Mail-Global Times news exchange item
