Taiwan opposition chief arrives for China 'peace' mission

Taiwan's opposition leader arrived in China on Tuesday for a "peace" mission and potential meeting with President Xi Jinping, as Taiwanese PresidentLai Ching-te reiterated he was open for talks but the island had the right to chart its own course.



Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of the Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan's largest opposition party, is travelling at a time of increased Chinese military pressure on Taiwan, which Beijing views as its own territory, and as the opposition-dominated parliament stalls a government plan for $40 billion in extra defence spending.



Speaking to reporters at her party's headquarters in Taipei before going to the airport, Cheng said she was going on a "historic journey for peace" but admitted some people felt uneasy about her trip.



"If you truly love Taiwan, you will seize even the slightest chance, every possible opportunity, to keep Taiwan from being ravaged by war," she said.



Cheng arrived at Shanghai's downtown Hongqiao airport under tightened security and then took a train to Nanjing, home to the mausoleum of party founder Sun Yat-sen who overthrew the last imperial government and founded the Republic of China in 1912.