Taiwan Opposition Leader meets Xi Jinping in China | Silk and Steel

This episode of Silk and Steel explores the historic visit of Taiwan's KMT chairwoman Chen Liwen to mainland China, where she met with President Xi Jinping—the first such meeting between KMT leadership and CPC leadership in a decade. Host Carl Zha interviews Xiang Yu, a guest from Taiwan currently in Chengdu, who provides a nuanced analysis of the political, historical, and cultural significance of the trip. The discussion delves into why Chen chose key cities—Nanjing (historical), Shanghai (economic), and Beijing (political)—and how her visit reflects a strategic recalibration of cross-strait relations amid shifting global dynamics, particularly U.S. military overextension in West Asia. Xiang Yu argues that while the trip is not a sign of imminent reunification, it signals a growing public and generational shift in Taiwan toward openness to engagement with the mainland, driven more by people-to-people contact and social media than political rhetoric. He contrasts the KMT’s conciliatory approach with the DPP’s pro-U.S. and pro-Japan stance, highlighting how Taiwan’s economic and cultural ties with the mainland are increasingly difficult to ignore. The episode concludes with a broader geopolitical assessment: the Taiwan issue is ultimately a proxy in the U.S.-China rivalry, and long-term peace depends not on Taiwan’s leaders but on the structural rise of China and the waning capacity of U.S. global dominance.