OPINION:
The Taiwanese have always been among the most warmly pro-American people in the world, as most visitors can roundly attest. Within Taiwan’s political discourse, there historically has never been a substantial constituency of voters opposing America in general. Yet this has begun to change within the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), as it aligns itself with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), its former mortal enemy. This metamorphosis is a cause of concern for Taiwanese and Americans alike.
In recent decades, with the end of the Cold War, democratization and rise of Chinese influence, the KMT has shifted away from its historic friendship with the United States. In response to serious electoral competition, which resulted in its first loss of power in 2000, elements of the KMT have increasingly sought assistance and patronage from none other than the CCP.
The CCP has exploited Taiwan’s new openness to facilitate this transformation. It has mounted an intensive and sustained influence campaign to foster an anti-American faction within the KMT, while members of the more pro-American camp have continued to travel regularly to reassure their “old friends” in Washington. This has generated increasingly serious internal wrangling within the party about how to balance relations with China and the US.
This year, we can finally say that the party’s leadership is fully in the hands of the anti-American, pro-CCP faction. Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s visit to China, and in particular her meeting with CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping, should be seen as a moment of clarity.
Cheng’s speech in Beijing was notable for being so thoroughly in lockstep with Xi’s. Indeed, her entire text could have been delivered by a CCP spokesperson. Cheng upheld not only the so-called “92 Consensus” but also opposition to Taiwanese independence. She used one of Xi’s favorite slogans — the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” — as a joint project of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, even though a 2022 CCP “white paper” stipulates that “rejuvenation” must include unification of Taiwan.
Regarding the US, she added this alarming statement: “Hopefully, through the persistent efforts of our two parties, the Taiwan Strait will no longer be a geopolitical flashpoint and will never be a chessboard for interference by external forces.” Let’s unpack that. A “chessboard” is obviously a binary frame, with China on one side and the United States on the other. All other countries are merely pawns employed by the two main players. Thus, “external forces” can only be understood as referring to the United States.
“Interference,” in CCP-speak, includes arms sales to Taiwan, freedom of navigation operations, and any form of military training. It also includes any statement of support for Taiwan in the diplomatic sphere, the Taiwan Relations Act itself, and any acknowledgement that peace and stability in the Strait are a matter of international concern.
With this statement, then, Cheng clearly set forth her opposition to the main thrust of U.S. policy in Asia.
Meanwhile, the KMT has repeatedly wielded its narrow plurality in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan to block critical American priorities, especially on defense. After Taiwan’s government spent over a year working together with the Trump administration to craft an historic increase in defense spending and investments, the KMT stalled it on procedural grounds. Chairwoman Cheng notably expressed support for a KMT member who said she hoped the final budget would be “zero.”
After intense pressure from the Trump administration and bipartisan members of Congress, a slimmed-down budget was eventually approved. It was notable that the final compromise bill was not sponsored by the KMT but rather by its junior partner. The KMT caucus never fully supported even the reduced defense package; they merely grudgingly ceased their obstruction.
Cheng attempted to address the increasing alarm among American observers about her party’s growing alignment with Beijing during her recent visit to the United States, but her efforts fell flat. It didn’t help that, in her marquee speech, she dismissed the very concept of the First Island Chain — a key American strategic priority — as “Cold War thinking.”
Fortunately, the Taiwanese voters will in due course have their chance to render a verdict on these views and the overall direction Cheng is taking the KMT. For its part, the Democratic Progressive Party continues to put its faith ultimately in the wisdom of the voters. President Lai Ching-te has continuously appealed for unity in the face of the CCP’s attempts to subvert Taiwan’s democracy. All free countries must hope that Taiwan’s democratic institutions will be able to withstand this pressure.
In the meantime, until the KMT presents concrete evidence of a change in direction, the United States needs to set aside its historical sympathy for the party and regard it as a hostile actor, inimical to US interests.
• Bo Tedards is an advisor to the Democratic Progressive Party Mission in the United States.
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