Takeaways from Cheng Li-wun’s press conference about meeting with Xi Jinping

It is the first time the leaders of the KMT and the Communist Party have met in nine years and comes at a time of heightened cross-strait military tensions.

Here are the main takeaways from the press conference.

A ‘choice of war or peace’

In a clear reference to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s criticism of her trip to the mainland, Cheng said she hoped that “no political party in Taiwan uses cross-strait peace as a tool” to get votes.

This mattered, she said, “because this is the choice of war or peace”.

Cheng framed her party’s dialogue with the Communist Party as a historical responsibility to avert war and to ensure cross-strait peace.

She said that while the KMT had taken the initial step to de-escalate tensions, the door remained open for all parties to engage in similar dialogue, provided they prioritised regional stability over the “selfish interests” of a single political entity.