KMT chair Cheng Li-wen plans to visit the U.S. in early June, with reported stops in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, New York and Washington, and Texas under consideration. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Cheng said the trip will focus on carrying a message of confidence in peace and on promoting her vision of a “Pacific peace and prosperity zone.” She said the goal is to reduce hostility, avoid war and build peace and prosperity, and added that she hopes the U.S., China and other regional parties can work together. Cheng also said she was optimistic about the coming Trump-Xi summit. [1, 2, 3]

Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said he welcomed party diplomacy, but said Taiwan-U.S. ties should still run mainly through government channels, with party diplomacy as a supplement. [1, 2, 3]

Reports on May 12 said the trip could last about 14 days and involve around 14 people, though KMT spokeswoman Yin Nai-ching said the final number had not been set. [4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]

The same reports sparked a dispute over money. Some media said the party or its overseas affairs arm wanted overseas Taiwanese to cover lodging and transport as a form of local hosting. Yin said the party had already set aside a budget and that the KMT would pay for food, lodging and transport, adding that it had not asked supporters to pay. [10, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]

Former KMT overseas affairs director Chen Yi-hsin backed that account, saying from his experience arranging past visits for KMT Chairman Eric Chu, banquets and site visits were paid from party funds and some expenses could be covered by Taiwan Democracy Foundation grants. He said the party did not ask overseas Taiwanese to provide local hosting. Chen also said Chu’s 2022 U.S. trip included Washington, where he attended the opening of the representative office, as well as San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles. [10, 11, 12]

Yin said the party is still adjusting the itinerary and has not finalized the delegation size or any Taiwan Democracy Foundation application. Reported plans also include a possible speech at Columbia University in New York and meetings with academics at Harvard and MIT. [3, 8, 9]