Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today led a group of party officials to the Cihu Mausoleum to pay tribute to former president and KMT leader Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), as Tomb Sweeping Day on Sunday marks the 51st anniversary of Chiang’s death.
Standing before the mausoleum, Cheng said that many millions tragically lost their lives during the Chinese Civil War, with the war only ending when the KMT withdrew to Taiwan and the Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu islands.
She hopes that history does not repeat itself, and there is no more conflict or killing between the people of Taiwan and China, Cheng said.
Photo: Hsieh Wu-hsiung, Taipei Times
She hopes that both sides of the Taiwan Strait can achieve peace and prosperity, she added.
Cheng, who is to depart on a six-day visit to China from Tuesday next week to April 12, said she hopes that Chiang blesses her meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
“I believe that [Chiang] would be glad to see our current efforts toward cross-strait peace,” she added.
Asked if she would meet with Xi on Friday next week, she expressed her gratitude to him for his invitation, adding that goodwill and sincerity are crucial to cross-strait relations at this time.
No meeting between Cheng and Xi has been officially confirmed.
US senators visiting Taiwan have also expressed their optimism and have high expectations for the meeting between Xi and US President Donald Trump, Cheng said.
Trump plans to meet Xi next month.
In response to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) criticism and calls for Xi to recognize Taiwan, Cheng urged the DPP to reconsider its stance.
The DPP should make at least a minimal effort to promote peace for the benefit of the next generation, she said.
The DPP’s Department of China Affairs today wrote on Facebook that any cross strait exchanges conducted by the ruling party or the opposition should be based on the principle of mutual respect.
A Cheng-Xi meeting would be a re-emergence of KMT and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) exchanges, the DPP said.
The CCP intends to use such a meeting to ensure “patriots” govern Taiwan, obstruct arms purchases and weaken Taiwan-US cooperation, the party said.
Just as China’s ambitions toward Taiwan have not changed, neither has Taiwan’s determination to safeguard its democracy and freedom, it added.
All political parties and the public should remain vigilant against China’s “united front” work and infiltration efforts, to not be easily divided or exploited and to defend Taiwan’s hard-won democracy and freedom, the DPP said.
Regarding Cheng’s willingness to meet with President William Lai (賴清德) ahead of her trip to China, DPP caucus chief executive Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said that such a meeting would be “unnecessary.”
It is obvious that the KMT has repeatedly blocked the central government’s general budget and several defense and procurement bills to pave the way for a Cheng-Xi meeting, he said.
Cheng should inform Xi that this year marks the 30th anniversary of Taiwan’s first direct presidential election, something the authorities in Beijing could learn from, DPP Legislator Chen Pei-yu (陳培瑜) said.
Additional reporting by Li Wen-hsin and CNA
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