Taiwan’s Kuomintang leader to visit mainland China to aid ‘peaceful’ relations: Beijing

Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of Taiwan’s opposition party Kuomintang (KMT), will lead a delegation to mainland China next month at the invitation of Beijing, her first visit since assuming the position in November.Song Tao, head of Beijing’s Taiwan-work-office" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="78164" data-entity-type="organization">Taiwan Work Office, said on Monday that the Communist Party Central Committee and Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party Central Committee, would welcome her visit to Jiangsu province, Shanghai and Beijing from April 7 to 12, to “promote the peaceful development of relations between the Communist Party and Kuomintang as well as across the Taiwan-strait" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="5508" data-entity-type="location">Taiwan Strait”, Xinhua said.Cheng has expressed gratitude for the invitation and said she hoped joint effort by the parties could “promote cross-strait exchanges and cooperation, and seek peace and stability in the Taiwan-strait" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="5508" data-entity-type="location">Taiwan Strait region and the well-being of the people on both sides,” according to a statement by her office.PLA kicks off military exercises around TaiwanPLA kicks off military exercises around TaiwanCheng is the latest in a line of KMT leaders to visit the mainland – after Lien Chan, Wu Po-hsiung, Wu Den-yih, Hung Hsiu-chu, Ma Ying-jeou, and Cheng’s predecessor as party chair, Eric Chu Li-luan – although not all were KMT leaders at the time of their visit.Hung was the last sitting chairman of the KMT to visit the mainland. She met Xi during the trip to Beijing and Nanjing from late October to early November 2016.Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.More to follow …