China–Taiwan Relations

Chinese leader Xi Jinping hosted Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of Taiwan’s main opposition Kuomintang party, for a rare meeting in Beijing this week, a move framed as part of Beijing’s campaign to draw the self-ruled island closer to China and sideline U.S. influence. The session, confirmed Friday morning local time by China’s official Xinhua News Agency, comes just weeks before a planned mid-May summit between Xi and President Donald Trump. By engaging directly with Taiwan’s opposition ahead of that summit, Beijing is signaling it will pursue political and diplomatic tools—not just military pressure—to reshape cross-strait dynamics. For Washington, the outreach highlights how Chinese leaders are working multiple tracks to weaken longstanding U.S. support for Taiwan and test the Trump administration’s ambiguous signals on the island.