Taiwan's main opposition leader will make a rare trip to China on Tuesday, weeks before U.S. President Donald Trump, with Beijing expected to use the visit to increase its influence over the democratic island.
Cheng Li-wun, who will become the first sitting chairperson of the Kuomintang (KMT) to travel to China in a decade, said she wants to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping to build cross-strait "peace".
Taiwanese officials and experts, however, say Xi sees an opportunity to reinforce Cheng's standing in the KMT and stymie further US weapons sales to Taiwan.
The KMT has long advocated for closer relations with China, which claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threated to use force to seize it.
But Cheng, whose unexpected rise to the top of the KMT drew congratulations from Xi in October, has been accused by critics, including inside the party, of being too pro-China.
Cheng's visit comes as the U.S., Taiwan's most important security backer, intensifies pressure on Taiwanese opposition lawmakers to approve a proposal for defence purchases, including billions of dollars worth of U.S. weapons, to deter a potential Chinese attack.
While KMT party members regularly fly to China for exchanges with officials, its last leader to visit was Hung Hsiu-chu in 2016.
China severed high-level contact with Taiwan that year after Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party won the presidency and rejected Beijing's claims on the island.
Cross-strait relations have worsened since then as China ramped up military pressure with near daily deployments of fighter jets and warships near Taiwan and regular large-scale military drills.
