Amid all the tensions in the Middle East, the situation in East Asia looks a lot calmer. That’s especially true after a visit to Beijing by Taiwan’s opposition leader Cheng Li-wun, a positive sign for peace and an encouraging step toward Washington’s longstanding interest in peaceful cross-strait relations.
Cheng’s visit to China was not unprecedented. The opposition party in Taiwan, the Kuomintang (KMT), has held several rounds of direct talks with Beijing in a “party-to-party” format since 2005.
It would be better if the leader of Taiwan, Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), had made the journey, but he is unfortunately reviled by Beijing due to his pro-independence inclinations.
Still, even a visit by the opposition party can’t be discounted. The cross-strait situation has become so fraught to the point that U.S. intelligence agencies once predicted that a war there could occur as early as 2027. This estimate has thankfully been dialed back.
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