Cheng Li-wun, chairperson of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party, held a press conference at 11 am. on Monday at Sun Yat-sen Hall at the Kuomintang's central headquarters to address her visit to the mainland. Photo: Screenshot from website

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. 

Promoting cross-Straits exchanges   

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. 

Close attention across island 

Taiwan media outlets covered the news extensively. CNA reported on Song's announcement, which was subsequently picked up by several other local news organizations. Taiwan regional media outlet "China Times" placed a front-page teaser on its website directing readers to related reports.

A report published by the "China Times" on Monday cited mainland scholar Bao Chengke as saying that the visit not only symbolizes a warming of interactions between the CPC and the KMT but is also seen as sending a signal that cross-Straits relations remain "controllable and stable." 

The United Daily News cited Chang Hung-yuan, a professor in the Department of International Trade at Chihlee University of Technology and a former deputy director of the KMT mainland affairs department, as saying that both the arrangements for the visit and the wording used by Song Tao carry symbolic significance. Cheng's planned itinerary — covering Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing — also appears carefully designed, combining technology and economic visits with historical connections and political interaction.

Chang added that the trip could help open a new chapter in CPC-KMT relations by reestablishing a direct channel of communication between the two parties and reducing the need for intermediaries.

A report from Taiwan region's BCC News noted that Cheng has repeatedly said she hoped to visit the mainland first and then the US in the first half of this year. The mainland's formal announcement on March 30 inviting her to visit has therefore fueled expectations that the closely watched meeting between the head of the CPC and KMT could soon take place.

On Monday, the DPP authorities continued to hype Cheng's upcoming visit to the mainland while promoting "Taiwan independence." According to a report from Taiwan media outlet, ET Today, the DPP claimed that the Chinese mainland is seeking to draw in Taiwan's opposition parties and "press" them to accept a "shared political foundation" with the mainland while exerting pressure on the island. 

Wang Wu-lang, secretary-general of the Labor Party in the Taiwan region, sees the mainland's invitation for Cheng to visit as a further step toward expanding cross-Straits exchanges and cooperation and deepening integrated development across the Straits. The arrangement signals the mainland's strategic resolve and commitment to promoting peaceful reunification.

Cheng's mainland visit is likely to be welcomed by many across Taiwan, as it responds to public expectations for opposing "Taiwan independence" and promoting cross-Straits reconciliation. As dissatisfaction grows over Lai Ching-te and the DPP authorities' notorious record of relying on the US to seek "Taiwan independence" agenda and pro-Japan line — a course that has harmed the interests of the Taiwan people — the visit may also prompt more people in Taiwan to speak out against the DPP and call for expanded cross-Straits interaction, Wang told the Global Times. 

Also on Monday, when asked by the Global Times at a press conference about Cheng's upcoming visit, Justin Lin Yifu, a leading economist and dean of the Institute of New Structural Economics at Peking University, who was born and raised in Taiwan, said he believes the visit is a highly positive development that will help advance peace and further exchanges across the Taiwan Straits. 

Lin noted that over the past period, the DPP's policies have disrupted formal cross-Straits exchanges and heightened tensions between the two sides. He said this has been detrimental to Taiwan, the mainland, and regional peace and stability.

"As someone born in Taiwan and now working on the mainland, I especially hope to see peace and common development across the Taiwan Straits," he said.