SHANGHAI/TAIPEI ¨C Taiwan¡¯s opposition leader arrived in China on Tuesday for a ¡°peace¡± mission and potential meeting with President Xi Jinping, as Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te reiterated he was open for talks but the island had the right to chart its own course.
Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of the ?Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan¡¯s largest opposition party, is traveling at a time of increased Chinese military pressure on Taiwan, which Beijing views ?as its own ?territory, and as the opposition-dominated parliament stalls a government plan for $40 billion in extra defense ?spending.
Speaking to reporters at her party¡¯s headquarters in Taipei before going to the airport, Cheng said she was going on a ¡°historic journey for peace¡± but admitted some people felt uneasy about her trip.
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