Cheng Li-wun, the head of Taiwan’s opposition, flew to China on Tuesday at the request of President Xi Jinping. She calls it a “journey for peace” as Beijing tries to take control of the self-ruled island. The Taiwanese opposition leader’s visit is the first in ten years. It comes before a meeting between Xi and US President Donald Trump in Beijing in May.
At the same time, Taiwan’s opposition-controlled parliament has stopped the government’s efforts to establish a $40 billion special defense budget. This budget is supposed to pay for arms sales with the US and the growth of Taiwan’s own defense industry. China says the self-governing island is part of its territory and has not ruled out using force to reclaim it. Beijing has been increasing military pressure on the island by flying aircraft and naval ships near it virtually every day. Its military also sometimes holds live-fire drills around the island, the most recent of which was in December.
The US State Department noted that these kinds of actions “unnecessarily raise tensions” and asked Beijing to stop putting military pressure on Taiwan. Before she left Taipei, the head of the Kuomintang urged reporters that Taiwan should do everything it can to avoid war and take any opportunity to promote peace.
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