Kuomintang (KMT) chair Cheng Li-wun returned to Taiwan on June 16, ending a two-week trip to the United States. The trip comes shortly on the heels of Cheng’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in April, which significantly boosted Cheng’s international profile. Her meeting with Xi took place a month before U.S. President Donald Trump’s own summit with the Chinese leader.
Although Cheng stated ahead of time that she hoped to meet with Trump, this ultimately did not occur. Before traveling to Washington as part of her trip, Cheng aimed to flatter the U.S. president, stating that he could be the “greatest statesman of the 21st century” if he was able to resolve tensions in the Taiwan Strait. President Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) also previously sought to flatter Trump by suggesting that he would deserve a Nobel Peace Prize if he was able to convince Xi to renounce the use of force against Taiwan.
Taiwan’s ties with the United States have been questioned after the Trump-Xi summit, particularly after Trump seemed to echo Xi’s language on Taiwan in the wake of the meeting. However, comments by Trump suggesting that he is still weighing arms sales to Taiwan, as well as his affirmation that he opposes Taiwanese independence, also indirectly echo Cheng.
