Taiwan Opposition Leader: Reunification Not Discussed with Xi Jinping

Cheng Li-wun, the leader of Taiwan's largest opposition party, said that during her recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the issue of "reunification" was never discussed.

"Due to the rising tensions across the Taiwan Strait, we really hoped that we'd be able to restart cross-strait dialogue and negotiation, and to create peace," Cheng told NPR in an interview. "At the moment, we do not have the conditions to talk about this [reunification] issue."

Cheng is on a 15-day trip to the United States, where the leader of the Kuomintang (KMT) hopes to convince the American public of her approach seeking greater engagement with Beijing. She said that the devastation of the Chinese civil war of the 20th century, fought between her party and the Chinese Communists, was one of the reasons for her to seek "peaceful coexistence" with China.

"If war happens across the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan is going to face serious devastation. Then countries like the United States will inevitably get involved. And this may lead to the breaking out of World War III and the whole world will suffer," Cheng told Here and Now host, Scott Tong.

Cheng represents Taiwan's opposition at a time when Taiwanese voters are increasingly polarized over how to manage relations with China, and whether they can trust Washington. Her party faced fierce criticism from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) after using its legislative majority in May to pass a scaled-back defense spending bill. The final package fell far short of what President Lai Ching-te insisted was necessary to prepare the self-governing island for a potential Chinese attack.

Cheng spoke with Tong about her disagreements with Taiwan's ruling party on defense spending, and how she hopes to take relations with China in a more hopeful direction despite rising tensions across the Taiwan strait.

The following exchange has been edited for length and clarity.

Interview highlights

Tong: There are critics in Washington who note that your party, the KMT, pushed to reduce the arms budget in Taiwan, and they have raised questions about how committed your party is to defending Taiwan. Have you received those questions here? How do you respond to those?

Cheng: Many people ask me this question, but I think they are misled because, for a long time, the KMT has been the strongest supporter of Taiwan's defense. Regarding the special defense budget, it has been operated in a black-box manner, and we haven't seen any concrete content as to what is included. Furthermore, the version proposed by the DPP has violated various legislative principles. We don't want to see this kind of prolonged delay; instead, we decided to approve the foreign military sales first.

Tong: You yourself met with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this year. President Xi has said reunification with Taiwan is "unstoppable." When you met with President Xi, did you respond to that assertion?

Cheng: In fact, during my trip to mainland China, we didn't talk about the issue of reunification. Due to the rising tensions across the Taiwan Strait, we really hoped that we'd be able to restart cross-strait dialogue and negotiation, and to create peace.

Tong: I just want to make sure I understand. You said you did not discuss this question of reunification. Why not?

Cheng: At this moment, we do not have the conditions to talk about this issue. Over the last 10 years, contact and dialogue across the Taiwan Strait have been completely severed. As a result, we have seen rising tensions to the point where we are almost on the brink of war and conflict. It is our top priority to be pragmatic and restart cross-strait dialogue, with the hope that tensions will be eased and we can create greater peace and stability.

Tong: What is your long-term vision for Taiwan-China relations, say, over the next generation?

Cheng: First of all, we really hope to institutionalize cross-strait relations to make them sustainable, and I understand that this is a huge undertaking.

I hope that by building this bridge — and laying a solid foundation for cross-strait exchanges through peaceful means — people will be able to pursue their dreams, as well as a shared future.

If you take a long-term perspective, should any changes happen to the status quo, the will of the people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait must be respected. Of course, the will of the people of Taiwan must be respected, and we need to make sure that these kinds of changes serve the well-being of everyone on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Tong: As you're hearing on your trip here, there are many who think continuous engagement with China is naive and they point to China's record on Hong Kong and other issues, that it's dangerous to get too close to China. Do you understand those concerns?

Cheng: Yes, of course.

In the past, the KMT and the CCP were engaged in a tragic civil war … But we understand that we do not want to repeat this kind of tragedy. So this is the reason why we are trying our very best to seek peaceful coexistence.

If war happens across the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan is going to face serious devastation. Then countries like the United States will inevitably get involved. This may lead to the breaking out of World War III, and the whole world will suffer.

Here I'd like to quote President John F. Kennedy: "Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate."

Tong: You've spoken about your fear of a military conflict across the Taiwan Strait. How would you de-escalate tensions?

Cheng: As long as both sides of the Taiwan Strait return to the 1992 consensus and oppose Taiwan independence, on this foundation, I do believe that we will be able to have cross-strait dialogue very smoothly and will be able to create an environment of goodwill, peace and also a sound environment.

In the future, if the KMT can return to power in 2028, we will restart comprehensive exchanges with mainland China across all fronts. And we are hoping that through dialogue, we will be able to reduce military activities and build confidence-building mechanisms so as to prevent the worst from happening.

Tong: Americans don't know much about Taiwan. So when you say that you oppose independence, how do you explain that to the American audience? Because for an American audience, that sounds a little shocking.

Cheng: With the end of World War II, Japan returned Taiwan back to the Republic of China.

And also after the relocation of the Republic of China government from mainland China to the island of Taiwan, we developed a very different democratic system from that of mainland China.

However, the Constitution of the Republic of China is a one-China Constitution. So under the Constitution, we have two areas. One is the "mainland area," and the other is the "free area," meaning Taiwan.