Cheng Li-wun

Early life and education

Cheng was born in Kouhu, Yunlin, on November 12, 1969, to a middle-class family whose ancestral home is in Yunnan. She was raised in East District, Tainan, and grew up in a military dependents' village. Her father, a Yi soldier in the Chinese Expeditionary Force, was from Pu'er City, and her mother was a Taiwanese native of Kouhu.

After graduating from Taipei Municipal Zhongshan Girls High School, Cheng attended law school at National Taiwan University (NTU), where she became the president of the university's debate society (台大論壇社), participated in the Wild Lily student movement, and received her Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree in 1991. As a Wild Lily student activist, she campaigned for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and advocated for Taiwanese independence.

Cheng then studied law in the United States at Temple University and earned a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in international law from its Beasley School of Law in 1993. She completed further graduate studies in England, earning a Master of Science (M.Sc.) in international relations in 2000 from the University of Cambridge, where she was also a doctoral Ph.D. candidate in international relations. As a graduate student at Cambridge, Cheng studied under Dutch sinologist Hans van de Ven and intended to begin an academic career as a historian.

Career

After graduating from law school, Cheng became a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), serving in the National Assembly as a representative from Taipei from 1996 to 2000 and in the party's youth organization afterwards. She was suspended and resigned from the party in 2002 following a dispute with the DPP leadership over the handling of the sexual harassment allegations against Twu Shiing-jer.

Cheng left the Legislative Yuan following her departure from the DPP, but rumors that she now was aligned with the Pan-Blue Coalition were confirmed by her appearance at a March 2004 Kuomintang rally protesting the 2004 presidential election. Following her failed campaign to be elected as an independent candidate for Kaohsiung, she officially joined the Kuomintang (KMT) in 2005. She accompanied Kuomintang chairman Lien Chan's visit to mainland China in that year. She was quickly promoted within the party, and was elected as a party-list member of the Legislative Yuan in 2008. She was not reelected upon her run for a Taichung seat 2012, losing to Ho Hsin-chun. After her defeat, she served as Spokesperson of the Executive Yuan for two years, being replaced by Sun Lih-chyun.

From her departure from the Executive Yuan to September 2015, she hosted a talk show on TVBS. She served as deputy secretary-general of the KMT between August and November 2018. She returned to the Legislative Yuan in 2020 and served as secretary-general of the KMT caucus in the Yuan in 2021. On October 12, 2021, she had a heated argument with DPP legislator Su Tseng-chang regarding the 2002 "ear-licking" case. She left the Yuan at the conclusion of her term in February 2024. On June 11, 2025, Cheng, Julian Kuo, Chen Pei-jer, Holger Chen, and others announced the foundation of the "Opposition Alliance", a party intended to "revive the spirit" of the tangwai movement and combat the DPP's so-called "Green Terror".

Chairperson of the Kuomintang

On September 18, 2025, Cheng Li-wun registered to run for the KMT chairmanship at the KMT Central Party Headquarters. Taiwanese security officials said that her campaign was promoted on social media in a coordinated fashion through accounts linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). She was elected Chairperson of the Kuomintang in October 2025 and entered office on November 1, 2025. CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping sent her a congratulatory message on her victory. The same month, she attended a White Terror memorial event that honored CCP spy Wu Shi.

After President Lai Ching-te backed Japan amidst the 2025 China–Japan diplomatic crisis, Cheng accused Lai of inflaming tensions and said leaders should instead show caution and restraint. In December 2025, she opposed President Lai's proposal to increase military spending by $40 billion over the next eight years. She also said she would prioritize a meeting with Xi in 2026 with no preconditions beyond supporting the 1992 Consensus and opposing Taiwan independence, while also saying a Lai–Xi meeting would be possible if DPP dropped its pro-independence platform.

Political positions

In her younger days, Cheng supported the Taiwan independence movement, and described both the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party as "tyranny". Her political positions switched during her days with the Democratic Progressive Party, when she questioned the DPP's reaction to two-state theory and corruption scandals surrounding President Chen Shui-bian. She later became a strong opponent of Taiwanese independence, calling it "Taiwan independence fascism". She said that while President Lai Ching-te had not declared formal independence, his statements "conceal a pro-independence historical perspective and ideology", and accused the DPP of "green terror", referencing the White Terror, and also said the DPP was trying to "de-Sinicize Taiwan".

Cheng is also viewed as favoring closer relations with mainland China and supporting the 1992 Consensus. During her campaign to become Kuomintang chairperson, she said that she wants "all Taiwanese people to be able to proudly and confidently say, 'I am Chinese.'". She also stated that "Taiwan and the mainland should join forces to reach new heights in human civilization". She said that "At least 90% of Taiwan's culture, history, and bloodline are Chinese", continuing by saying "We speak Chinese, write Chinese characters, eat Chinese food, and worship Chinese gods. That's why I say it's a very natural thing to say 'we are Chinese". Cheng supports easing cross-strait tensions with talks. She stated she is open to Chinese leader Xi Jinping if "it could ease tensions and promote peaceful cooperation". She supports resuming the Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forum between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party, which stopped in 2016.

Cheng supports close relations with the United States, but has warned against Taiwan over-relying on the US, saying Taiwan "must not become a sacrifice or Trump's bargaining chip" and that it "must not become another Ukraine". She also asked that "Could it be that the United States is treating Taiwan as a chess piece, a pawn, to strategically provoke the Chinese Communist Party at opportune times?" She opposes raising Taiwan's defense budget to five per cent of the gross domestic product, calling it "too high and unreasonable for Taiwan", and said it "cannot truly guarantee the security of the Taiwan Strait". She opposed opening Taiwan's agricultural market, saying it would "have a very serious, even fatal, impact" on Taiwanese farmers. In an interview held by Deutsche Welle, Cheng stated her worry that Taiwan under the presidency of Lai Ching-te would become like Ukraine under the Russian invasion. When the interviewer responded that "the dictator caused the war", she rejected the claim and described Vladimir Putin as "a leader with democratically elected", blaming the invasion on NATO enlargement. Cheng later confirmed the statement and expressed her surprise that Putin was being labeled a dictator. In December 2025, Cheng criticized the government's one-year suspension of Xiaohongshu in the country due to fraud concerns as "censorship."

Personal life

On October 18, 2011, Cheng married her husband, Luo Wu-chang.

References

References

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