Cheng Li-wun, the Kuomintang chief who recently hobnobbed with mainland China dictator Xi Jinping, with whom she mind-melded by echoing his propaganda, was apparently unable to sway U.S. officials to her view of things during a recent two-week visit of the United States. Many did not give her a chance to do so (The Straits Times, June 13, 2026).
Ambitious, energetic and perhaps a bit naive.
That might be a fair take on how Taiwan’s Beijing-friendly opposition leader Cheng Li-wun was sized up in Washington….
Washington, which seemed to be lukewarm to her visit, did not roll out the red carpet for her.
The requested meeting with US President Donald Trump did not materialise; that was a reach, as Cheng herself readily admitted.
But what may have stung is that a scheduled meeting at the White House with officials in the National Security Council did not pan out either….
KMT maintains that Cheng met US officials “confidentially”.
Cheng also held closed-door meetings with influential Republican senators and congressmen….
Several other lawmakers reportedly refused to meet her because of the way she has used KMT’s legislative majority to considerably pare Taiwan’s defence budget.
If American politicians skeptical of Cheng’s approach to the Chinese Communist Party have remained so despite her efforts, this is no surprise Amanda Hsiao of the Eurasia Group consulting firm.
“Without greater clarity over the KMT’s defence strategy, many in Washington will see Cheng’s optimism about managing differences with China as naive,” says Hsiao.
But Cheng (shown above in New York City’s Chinatown during her visit) has stated her views of Beijing and cross-Strait relations often enough to make her “defense strategy” plenty clear: appeasement.
And we know that she’s on the same page as Xi Jinping and the CCP because, for one thing, the Party would otherwise have bellowed angry opposition to her lengthy U.S. visit, as it would if Republic of China President Lai Ching-te were to attempt a similar expedition. Heck, even Lai’s plan to call on ROC ally Eswatini provoked silly CCP ire and geopolitical shenanigans. To finally fly him to the little African country, Taipei had to mount a special covert operation.
