SHANGHAI, April 7 — A landmark visit to the Chinese mainland by a delegation from the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) officially got underway on Tuesday, as the group led by KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun touched down in Shanghai’s central area at local noon. The 5-day visit, scheduled to conclude this coming Sunday, will see the delegation travel across three major sites on the mainland: Jiangsu Province, the host city Shanghai, and the national capital Beijing.
What makes this trip particularly significant is that it marks the first time in 10 full years that a sitting KMT chairperson has led a party delegation to the Chinese mainland, breaking a decade-long gap in high-level cross-party exchanges between the KMT and the Communist Party of China (CPC).
Cross-Strait observers widely frame this visit as a critical milestone for people-to-people and party-to-party dialogue between the two sides across the Taiwan Strait under the evolving current cross-Strait context. It serves as a key step to rebuild regular high-level exchanges that have stalled in recent years, opening a new channel for constructive communication on issues of common concern to people on both sides of the strait.
A spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office emphasized that expanding and deepening open, sincere exchanges and dialogue between the CPC and the KMT carries far-reaching positive weight for two core cross-Strait goals: upholding enduring peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and advancing the long-term peaceful development of cross-Strait relations. The visit is expected to lay a new foundation for increased cooperation in economic, cultural, and people-to-people fields in the coming years, addressing the shared interests of compatriots from both sides of the Taiwan Strait.