Kuomintang party leader Cheng Li-wun to visit mainland on 'peace mission'

Chairwoman of the Chinese Kuomintang party, Cheng Li-wun, has departed for a mainland trip from April 7th to 12th which she framed as a "peace mission."

This will be the first visit to the Chinese mainland by the sitting leader of the KMT, Taiwan's largest opposition party, in a decade.

A potential meeting between Cheng and President Xi Jinping is expected to take place in Beijing.

She is travelling at a time when the island's opposition-dominated parliament stalls a government plan for 40 billion US dollars in extra defence spending.

The KMT party earlier put out a video featuring youngsters looking up at the stars with smiles and posted, "Peace is the only foundation for prosperity, and the hope for Taiwan's future."

Historian Chi Chia-lin said cross-Strait relations are extremely tense while Europe and the Middle East have both embroiled in conflicts.

He believes Cheng's visit serves as a distinct articulation of the KMT's stance and will prove that people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family.