The Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party, dominates Taiwan's legislature. It has long advocated closer ties with China. Together with the populist Taiwan People's Party, it holds the legislative majority against President Lai Ching-te's DPP.
KMT legislative leader Fu Kun-chi led a delegation to Beijing in 2024 to meet Wang Huning, the number four in the Communist Party who is in charge of policy on Taiwan. Wang welcomed them with talk of being one family and working together to prevent Taiwan's independence. After the visit, China lifted a ban on pomelo imports from Fu's constituency of Hualien while maintaining it on pro-DPP areas. Fu represents the sparsely populated county of Hualien, whose main industries are farming and tourism, both of which rely on China.
Upon returning from Beijing, KMT legislators adopted a law expanding parliament's powers at the expense of the president. When parts were ruled unconstitutional, they passed another law that paralysed the constitutional court. In January 2025 they made sweeping cuts to the budget, including defence, the coastguard and cyber-security.
Cheng Li-wun was chosen as the KMT's new leader on October 18th 2025. She opposes boosting the defence budget.
The KMT was founded by Sun Yat-sen, who is credited with toppling the Qing dynasty and is revered in both China and Taiwan. The party ruled China until it fled to Taiwan in 1949. It remained a sworn enemy of the Chinese Communist Party for decades, fortifying its island refuge with American weapons. Only in 1991, as Taiwan democratised, did the KMT formally renounce its goal to retake China by force.
In April 2026 Ms Cheng made a six-day visit to China—the first by a KMT leader in a decade—meeting Xi Jinping in Beijing. Both sides expressed opposition to Taiwan's independence and pledged to maintain peace and enhance exchanges. Ms Cheng re-affirmed the party's commitment to the 1992 consensus. The visit exposed a deepening factional rift: Ms Cheng's China-leaning faction is opposed by a rival group closer to America, led by Lu Shiow-yen, mayor of Taichung and a 2028 presidential front-runner.
When the KMT was last in power, from 2008 to 2016, China expanded trade, tourism and transport links with Taiwan. The party is divided between a China-leaning faction under Ms Cheng and an America-leaning wing whose most prominent figure is Lu Shiow-yen, the mayor of Taichung.
But I always fired into the nearest hill or, failing that, into blackness. I meant no harm; I just liked the explosions. And I was careful never to kill more than I could eat.