Cheng Li-wun, chairperson of the Chinese Kuomintang party, is leading a delegation to Jiangsu province, Shanghai and Beijing from Tuesday to Sunday. Cheng said the trip was meant to show Taiwan residents and the whole world that the two sides of the Strait do not need to be pushed to the brink of conflict, and that with enough wisdom and effort, they can still find a path of peaceful development across the Strait.

It is hoped that the visit will bring a sigh of relief amid intensifying cross-Strait tensions caused by dangerous provocations from the "pro-independence" separatists in Taiwan. The visit by Cheng — the spokeswoman for the delegation during former Kuomintang chairman Lien Chan's historic trip to the Chinese mainland in 2005 — is expected to offer a silver lining by renewing the valuable cross-Strait exchanges that took place between 2008 and 2016 when Kuomintang was the ruling party on the island.

For a long time, the Democratic Progressive Party authorities have set up numerous obstacles, leading to stagnation in cross-Strait cultural and tourism exchanges, economic cooperation, and youth interactions. This has resulted in impediments to the sales of Taiwan's agricultural and fishery products, putting pressure on employment and income growth for the public.

The visit, if successful, could win support from the mainland in areas such as the import of agricultural and fishery products, thereby building bridges for communication among the people. These efforts could not only garner public support for the Kuomintang but also secure tangible benefits for the livelihoods of the Taiwan residents.

It is high time for the Taiwan residents to realize only peace and cross-Strait cooperation best serve their interests.

In stark contrast, the Lai Ching-te authorities on the island continue to make dangerous provocations and sell the livelihood of residents. In December 2025, the US administration announced a massive arms package for Taiwan, reportedly totaling as much as $11.1 billion — more than the combined sales approved during the four years of the previous Joe Biden administration.

For the Lai authorities, this hawkish trend is a sign that they can rely on external support from the US in their pursuit of separatism. In Taipei, arms purchases are seen as the most direct — and supposedly most effective — way to secure political backing, though at the cost of imposing a huge burden on the island's residents.

There is always the incentive of profit. The US defense industry is deeply intertwined with politics. Millions of jobs and vast corporate interests depend on defense procurement and exports, and major contractors are often key donors in US elections. A large arms package is an easy way to reward the military-industrial complex while signaling "toughness" abroad — regardless of the consequences.

History is instructive here: playing the "Taiwan card" inevitably deepens strategic suspicion between China and the US and damages cooperation on other global issues.

The Taiwan question should not be held hostage to Washington's logic of "using Taiwan to contain China". People on both sides of the Strait can have the wisdom and the capacity to build trust and manage differences through dialogue and exchange.

Cheng's visit and her efforts for peaceful engagement remind the world that the Taiwan question is China's internal affair, and that dialogue and exchanges are in the best interest of people on both sides of the Strait. In contrast, the separatists on the island, if they continue to collude with outside forces and play with fire, pose the biggest threat not only to cross-Strait ties but also to the livelihood of Taiwan residents.

The author is the deputy head at the Institute of Taiwan Studies in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

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