Taiwanese media reports that the chairwoman of Taiwan's largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), Zheng Liwen, is expected to visit the United States on June 1.
According to Taiwan's 'China Times' on Monday (11th), Zheng Liwen plans to visit the US for two weeks, with stops in Washington, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
Reports indicate that following the conclusion of the "Zheng-Xi Meeting," Zheng Liwen instructed the KMT’s representative in the US, Qin Rixin, to arrange her trip to the States. The trip is currently being organized by Qin Rixin and the KMT’s Director of International Affairs, Dong Jiayu, with a planned departure date of June 1. At that time, Wu Liangyi, the Director of the Overseas Department, will also accompany her. The visiting delegation is not expected to be large.
It is understood that Zheng Liwen’s trip will start from the West Coast, and she may take a "West-in, East-out" route to Taiwan, or possibly travel west before heading to the East Coast and returning to Taiwan from the West Coast, depending largely on the invitations from schools and think tanks along the route. Zheng Liwen recently disclosed that she has received invitations from MIT, Columbia University, and Harvard University.
The report quoted Chen Huiqing, director of the Washington Federation of Overseas Chinese, as saying that Zheng Liwen will visit Washington between June 8 and June 12 and may hold a dinner for overseas Chinese on the 11th. However, informed sources revealed that the details of the itinerary remain unsettled and may still change.
KMT sources noted that in addition to invitations from schools and think tanks, Zheng Liwen will also visit members of the US Congress. However, key meetings with administrative departments are still hindered by the current state of interactions with the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), especially as the Legislative Yuan handles the special defense budget bill. The relationship between the KMT and AIT remains in need of repair.
It is understood that most of the meetings are being arranged through unofficial channels due to the lack of AIT support, which is proving difficult. However, since Zheng Liwen is of considerable interest among overseas Chinese communities in the US, many community figures are willing to assist proactively. Additionally, "pro-US" former representative to the US Yuan Jiansheng will play an important role, so arrangements are progressing smoothly.
Nevertheless, party insiders warn that due to the effect of the Legislative Yuan’s deliberation of the special national defense bill, the United States does not trust Zheng Liwen. Instead, the US has a favorable impression of Taichung Mayor Lu Xiuyan and Legislative Yuan President Han Kuo-yu, repeatedly showing support for them recently, seemingly in an effort to make them mainstream voices in the KMT. Zheng Liwen hopes that with this visit, she can convince the US that the KMT's position of being "pro-US, friendly to Japan, and amicable with mainland China" has not changed.
In an interview with Bloomberg at the end of last month, Zheng Liwen stated that if possible, the highest-ranking government official she hopes to meet on her US trip would be former President Donald Trump.
In an exclusive interview with CNN published on Sunday (10th), Zheng Liwen proposed that the first island chain, which carried military confrontation undertones during the Cold War, should gradually be transformed into an East Asian "chain of peace and prosperity." She also emphasized that Taiwan should not be forced to choose between the United States and mainland China.