Not all in the Kuomintang are eager to appease the Chinese Communist Party.
The current leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party or KMT, Cheng Li-wun (shown above), who must have enjoyed broad support in the party to gain her post, proposes to get along with the intransigently belligerent Chinese Communist Party—by which means she expects the Taiwanese to be rewarded with “peace.” Beijing, in her view, is a font of goodwill even though it has repeatedly demanded the “re”-unification of Taiwan with the mainland and continuously threatens Taiwan on a variety of fronts. But some party members dissent (Taipei Times, March 23, 2026).
Since Cheng was elected as party chairwoman in October last year, she has repeatedly expressed support for increased exchanges with China, saying that it would bring peace and prosperity to Taiwan, and that a meeting with Xi in Beijing takes priority over meeting with US officials in Washington.
While Cheng says she would not choose sides between Beijing and Washington, she has also said that she feels “immense goodwill and sincerity” from Beijing and repeatedly called herself “a Chinese.”
Her push for engagement with Beijing—including restarting a KMT-Chinese Communist Party think tank forum last month that had been suspended for nine years—coupled with KMT legislators repeatedly blocking the Cabinet’s special defense budget, which includes US arms purchases, has led many to believe that the KMT under Cheng’s leadership is heading toward a more pro-China and US-skeptical stance.
However, with the local elections approaching, many KMT members and nominees have expressed concerns that Cheng’s stance would harm the party’s election results, while some called for a bigger defense budget….
The editorial gives examples of KMT members with a non-Cheng view.
Taoyuan City Councilor Ling Tao says “that the national defense budget should be at least NT$900 billion (US$28.15 billion), not the NT$380 billion that the KMT caucus proposed.”
Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen, “who is widely seen as a potential KMT candidate for the 2028 presidential election…said Taiwan ‘seriously needs a solid ally like the US’ that has supported Taiwan’s defense and diplomacy for 80 years, adding that arms purchases are as necessary as buying insurance.”
KMT Legislator Huang Chien-hao, “who is close to Lu, also said that Lu preferred the NT$810 billion defense budget proposed by KMT Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin, prompting speculation that Lu and Cheng’s political views differ and that they struggle for influence in the party.”
What could be a more important political question here than whether the Republic of China survives and the Taiwanese remain free? KMT members who in fact prefer the stronger national defense policy of the current ruling government, the Democratic Progressive Party, can either try to reform the KMT from within or join the opposition.
Also see:
TVBS World Taiwan: “KMT chairwoman defends Putin, sparks controversy” (October 31, 2025)
“Kuomintang Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun sparked international controversy Friday (Oct. 31) by declaring Russian President Vladimir Putin is not a dictator. Cheng described Putin as a democratically elected leader during a Deutsche Welle interview released online.”
DW: Interview with Cheng Li-wun (October 31, 2025)
Google Translation: “We firmly believe that all contradictions and disagreements between the two sides of the strait can be resolved through peaceful means. We must scrupulously avoid any words or actions that could potentially ignite military conflict or exacerbate tensions; we must work to defuse all such risks. For I hold a deep conviction that the two sides can, without question, resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful channels.”
