Cheng Li-wen, chair of Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang (KMT), is undertaking a 16-day visit to the United States in an effort to address concerns and “clarify misunderstandings” among U.S. policymakers. Before departing, Cheng stated that she hoped to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump.
However, the U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune stated on June 9 that “no meeting has been scheduled with Cheng Li-wen.” The Republican lawmaker also expressed his support for Taiwan’s efforts to boost its self-defense capabilities, Taiwan Plus reported.
US Senate majority leader: no meeting scheduled with Cheng Li-wen
According to a report by Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA), Cheng arrived in Washington on June 9 and hoped to meet with U.S. lawmakers and government officials.
When asked by reporters whether he planned to meet this week with Taiwan’s opposition leader Cheng Li-wen—and about President Trump’s reported comment that arms sales to Taiwan are a useful bargaining chip—Thune responded:
“There are no meetings scheduled this week.”
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Thune also said that he strongly supports Taiwan’s efforts to strengthen its self-defense capabilities and to do everything possible to make Taiwan resemble a “porcupine” capable of deterring and resisting provocations from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“Therefore, if we have an opportunity and need to do so, I would certainly support it.”
He added that, in his view, the U.S. Congress wants to do everything it can to help Taiwan defend itself against CCP coercion and provocations.
The so-called “Porcupine Strategy” is an asymmetric military defense concept. Its core idea is that the defending side should resemble a porcupine covered in sharp quills: although smaller in size, it can impose prohibitively high costs on a stronger attacker by deploying large numbers of low-cost, easily concealed, highly mobile, and highly lethal weapons. The objective is to deter war by ensuring that any invasion would come at an extremely painful price.
Thune’s remarks are widely viewed as consistent with the U.S. Congress’s recent stance of supporting Taiwan’s security.
US expert: CCP gray-zone coercion aims to undermine Taiwan’s resilience
Two months before her U.S. visit, Cheng Li-wen met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing and reiterated her support for the “1992 Consensus” and opposition to Taiwan independence.
During this visit to the United States, Cheng’s primary objective is to “clarify misunderstandings” and convey the Kuomintang’s position that it supports both strengthening national defense and promoting cross-strait dialogue.
According to several experts’ interviews with the BBC, Cheng is attempting to demonstrate that she can engage with both Washington and Beijing, thereby highlighting differences between herself and Taiwan’s current governing administration.
She is also widely seen as a potential contender in Taiwan’s 2028 presidential election. Observers believe that a successful U.S. visit could enhance her political profile and strengthen her leadership position within the Kuomintang.
Cheng’s visit to the U.S. after a controversial summit with Xi Jinping at Beijing has also raised concerns of her serving the agendas of the Chinese Communist Party and its coercion activities against Taiwan.
According to Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA), U.S. analyst Craig Singleton stated that the Chinese Communist Party’s gray-zone coercion activities against Taiwan have increased significantly in recent years.
Singleton said these actions are: “intended to weaken Taiwan’s societal resilience,” and are ultimately aimed at influencing the outcome of Taiwan’s 2028 presidential election.
Craig Singleton, a senior fellow at the Washington-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said in an interview that he believes the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will continue to rely on gray-zone coercive activities below the threshold of war “as a means of constraining and isolating Taiwan.”
Singleton explained that Beijing is unlikely to use terms such as “blockade,” which carry implications under international law. Instead, it prefers gray-zone narratives such as “administrative law enforcement” to obscure what are, in essence, destabilizing actions directed at Taiwan and its political leadership.
He noted that the CCP’s gray-zone coercion has increased significantly in recent years. These activities include incursions into Taiwan’s airspace and surrounding waters, cyber operations and disinformation campaigns, as well as attacks on critical infrastructure, such as submarine communications cables.
According to Singleton, the purpose of these measures is to undermine Taiwan’s societal resilience.
“I believe this is China’s central objective from now until Taiwan’s next presidential election in 2028.”
He added that the United States “needs to do more” to deter China’s gray-zone coercive activities in the region.
Chinese government vessels enter waters off Eastern Taiwan
In recent years, China’s gray-zone pressure campaign against Taiwan has intensified. Most recently, Chinese government vessels entered waters off Taiwan’s eastern coast, citing ongoing negotiations between Japan and the Philippines regarding their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) as justification.
In response, Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration stated that it had preemptively deployed patrol vessels and maintained continuous monitoring and shadowing operations throughout the incident.
On the afternoon of June 9, a spokesperson for the United States Department of State responded to inquiries from Taiwan’s Central News Agency via email.
The spokesperson said that the United States supports its treaty allies, Japan and Philippines, and encourages Beijing to resolve disputes peacefully rather than through coercion or the threat of force.
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