Kuomintang (KMT) chairwoman Cheng Li-wun departed on April 7 on a trip she describes as a peace mission, as Beijing intensifies its "reunification" campaign, according to Reuters.

The visit comes at a high-stakes moment for regional security, with the KMT attempting to open diplomatic channels while the Taiwanese parliament remains deadlocked over a $40bn extra defence spending plan.

Cheng, who leads Taiwan’s largest opposition party, is visiting a number of cities in China, as Chinese military pressure on the island reaches new heights. Cheng told international reporters in March that "peace cannot possibly be achieved through defence capabilities alone," arguing that political dialogue is a mandatory component of stability.

The KMT leader arrives in Beijing on April 9 for the first such visit by a party chair in a decade. While China has not yet confirmed a meeting with President Xi Jinping, the trip precedes a planned summit between Xi and US President Donald Trump. During a phone call in February, Xi warned Trump that Washington "must carefully handle arms sales to Taiwan."

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council has publicly urged Cheng to demand an end to military threats and respect the rights of the Taiwanese people. However, Beijing continues to freeze out President Lai Ching-te, whom it brands a "separatist."

Reuters also reports that while Beijing claims "peaceful reunification" is its goal, the Eastern Theatre Command recently published a provocative cartoon on April 3 showing "Taiwan province" united with the mainland during the April 5 Tomb Sweeping Festival. The image showed people at a Taipei memorial for a communist spy executed by the KMT in 1950.

Despite Beijing's recent focus on the benefits of integration, including energy security, local opinion polls show almost no support for the "one country, two systems" model under which Hong Kong ultimately fell. Asked about the prospects of a merger, Cheng said the time was not ripe for such talks, stating: "What we need to deal with now is how to create peaceful and stable cross-strait relations."