Taiwan spots 16 warplanes as Xi meets KMT's Cheng
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- Taiwan's defence ministry reported 16 Chinese warplanes flew near the island from mid-morning to mid-afternoon on Friday, April 10 — the same window as the Xi-Cheng meeting at 11 am.
- Xi Jinping told KMT chairwoman Cheng Li-wun in Beijing that China "absolutely would not tolerate" Taiwanese independence; Cheng framed her visit as a reconciliation mission to advance the "institutionalisation" of peace across the Taiwan Strait.
- Mainland Affairs Council deputy minister Shen Yu-chung said using military coercion while sending peace messages is China's "go-to tactic," noting Beijing continued military pressure "without letup" during Cheng's visit.
- KMT vice chairman Chang Jung-kung argued the path to peace is offering Taiwanese people a choice between "peace with dignity" and war, contrasting his party's engagement with President Lai Ching-te's posture.
- Lai Ching-te's office said the Xi-Cheng meeting sought to highlight that "Taiwan is part of the People's Republic of China" and advance "the annexation of Taiwan," asserting Taiwan's future can only be decided by the Taiwanese people.
Why it matters: The 16 warplanes detected during Xi's Friday meeting give Lai's government visible evidence to frame the KMT-Beijing talks as annexation theater, while the KMT positions itself as the peace alternative. The Mainland Affairs Council publicly called military coercion Beijing's "go-to tactic," sharpening the domestic political contrast over cross-strait policy and complicating Cheng's reconciliation narrative.
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