Taiwan opposition leader Cheng Li-wun has little to show from a two-week trip to the United States, the most concrete sign yet that Taiwan¡¯s chief security partner remains wary of her contentious, China-friendly policy positions.
Cheng, chairwoman of the Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan¡¯s largest opposition ?party, told reporters upon her return to Taipei last week that her trip ¡°exceeded expectations.¡± But the reception she received from the White House suggests otherwise. The U.S. National Security Council canceled a planned meeting with her at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building without explanation, according to Taiwanese media.
Cheng instead met with a mid-level U.S. State Department staffer at the headquarters of the American Institute in Taiwan, which serves as the primary liaison office between the U.S. government and Taiwan¡¯s de facto U.S. Embassy. In a highly unusual move, Cheng did not meet with Ingrid Larson, the managing director of AIT¡¯s Washington office. Larson met with both Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen of the KMT and Taiwan People¡¯s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang when they visited Washington in March.
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