Taiwan opposition elects new leader who wants peace with China

The main opposition party in Taiwan has chosen a new reformist leader who is opposed to high defense costs but envisions peace with neighboring China, whose territorial claims have long strained relations.

On Saturday, the Kuomintang (KMT) party’s members voted to appoint former lawmaker Cheng Li-wun as chairperson. The party has traditionally had close ties to Beijing.

On November 1, Cheng, 55, will succeed former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin and four others as party leader.

In a time of increased military and political tensions with China, Cheng’s election has profound implications for domestic politics. He warns against allowing Taiwan to “become the sacrifice of geopolitics.”

The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is in trouble as the KMT attempts to pass the budget and its legislation, despite the fact that the party and its ally, the small Taiwan People’s Party, each hold enough seats to form a majority bloc in the legislature.

Cheng stated that under her leadership, the KMT would “create regional peace” at the party’s headquarters in Taipei.

The KMT will provide the strongest protection for everyone from the storms in our home. Because we will keep the Taiwan Strait peace,” she said. Taiwan should not become a jerk,” he said.

accusations of Chinese interference

Cheng, who first became a political figure in the DPP, declared during the campaign that she opposed boosting the defense budget, which is a crucial policy of President William Lai Ching-te’s administration and has strong support from the US.

Despite having less than 40% of the party’s members turnout, Cheng won the election to defeat establishment candidate Hau, 73, with more than 50% of the vote.

However, Jaw Shau-kong, the KMT’s vice presidential candidate from last year, accused China of interference in the election. According to Jaw, fake news had been made available on social media.

Tsai Ming-yen, the head of Taiwan’s National Security Bureau, reported finding more than 1, 000 videos on TikTok that covered the election, as well as 23 other YouTube accounts that posted content related to the election, with over half of those accounts being based outside of Taiwan. He did not specify which candidates these videos supported or directly respond whether they were based in China.

Wu Cheng, a DPP spokesman, said his party hoped the new chair would prioritize Taiwan’s safety over its interests, and that Chinese interference was a real problem.

Cheng defended the claims that China was behind her party as “very cheap labels.”