What Does the KMT Chair’s China Visit Mean for Taiwan and the US?｜Zoom In Zoom Out

by Panzer
Welcome to Zoom In, Zoom Out. I'm Isabel
Wong.
It's a busy moment in cross-strait and
global politics.
Taiwan's opposition Kuomintang chair,
Hung Hsiu-chu, is visiting [music] China
this week ahead of US President Donald
Trump's expected meeting with Chinese
President Xi Jinping in May.
That's a trip that could have
implications for Taiwan, which is
grappling with a deadlock on its special
defense budget. So, what do all these
moving pieces mean for Taiwan's
political [music] landscape right now?
Before the left, I spoke with Prospect
Foundation President Lai I-chung and
Dennis Weng, political science associate
professor at Sam Houston State
University, to break it all down.
Basically, she wants three things. One,
sending a peacemaker image to Beijing
and also for domestic use. And she also
tried to send a message that she tried
to
create a platform that is different from
DPP ahead of the local election and
potentially 2028. And also potentially
another message she tried to send to
Beijing and potentially also send to the
domestic voter is that the 2028 KMT is
prepared for more peace-seeking
situation to appeal Taiwan voter. But
what Beijing want is probably very
different from what Hung Hsiu-chu want
to see because Beijing will definitely
try to signal that Taiwan's opposition
is still willing to be the partner of
Beijing and it could potentially weaken