- Published on
In response to inaccurate news headlines (like this one) about the KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun's visit to the Hoover Institution on June 2, 2026, the Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region has issued the following statement.
Issued on June 29, 2026
The Hoover Institution Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region is an academic and non-partisan endeavor to understand the challenges confronting democracy and security in Taiwan. Over the years, we have sought to maintain strict neutrality with regard to partisan politics in Taiwan. Toward that end, we have welcomed engagement with leaders and representatives of all major political parties in Taiwan, both at Hoover and in Taiwan. In the past months alone, we have met at Hoover with senior figures of both the KMT and the DPP. Typically, these visits involve off-the-record dialogues to ensure a free exchange of ideas.
On June 2, we hosted a closed-door roundtable with a KMT delegation led by the party chairwoman, Cheng Li-wun. Since the session was off-the-record, we do not think it appropriate to characterize her remarks. However, we find it necessary to indicate that reports suggesting that we endorsed her view of cross-strait relations are not accurate. The session elicited spirited discussion about China's intentions and the requirements for maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
Although we do not endorse or align with any political party or faction in Taiwan, we do have views about what needs to be done to deter a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. We have articulated these views on multiple occasions in print and in speech. We remain concerned that China's intentions toward Taiwan are not benign, and that a process of political integration of Taiwan into the People's Republic of China would yield the same outcome that it has in Hong Kong—not "one country, two systems", but one country, one autocracy. Avoiding such a tragedy requires of Taiwan restraint, steadfastness, and bolstering of defensive military capabilities. It requires of the United States adherence to the key pillars of its longstanding policies, including a readiness to sell to Taiwan the defensive weaponry it needs to defend itself, and economic, political, and military articulations of resolve (by the United States and other democracies) to resist any attempt to use force to impose a solution to the Cross-Strait conflict.
We share the many concerns in Taiwan about the current state of Cross-Strait relations. But there is only one actor in this conflict that is using its military in a pattern of increasing intrusion and provocation against the other. That is not the Republic of China, Taiwan, but rather the People's Republic of China.
Larry Diamond and James O. Ellis, Jr., Co-chairs, Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region, and
Kharis Templeman, Program Manager, Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region, Hoover Institution
The Hoover Institution Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region is an academic and non-partisan endeavor to understand the challenges confronting democracy and security in Taiwan. Over the years, we have sought to maintain strict neutrality with regard to partisan politics in Taiwan. Toward that end, we have welcomed engagement with leaders and representatives of all major political parties in Taiwan, both at Hoover and in Taiwan. In the past months alone, we have met at Hoover with senior figures of both the KMT and the DPP. Typically, these visits involve off-the-record dialogues to ensure a free exchange of ideas.
On June 2, we hosted a closed-door roundtable with a KMT delegation led by the party chairwoman, Cheng Li-wun. Since the session was off-the-record, we do not think it appropriate to characterize her remarks. However, we find it necessary to indicate that reports suggesting that we endorsed her view of cross-strait relations are not accurate. The session elicited spirited discussion about China's intentions and the requirements for maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
Although we do not endorse or align with any political party or faction in Taiwan, we do have views about what needs to be done to deter a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. We have articulated these views on multiple occasions in print and in speech. We remain concerned that China's intentions toward Taiwan are not benign, and that a process of political integration of Taiwan into the People's Republic of China would yield the same outcome that it has in Hong Kong—not "one country, two systems", but one country, one autocracy. Avoiding such a tragedy requires of Taiwan restraint, steadfastness, and bolstering of defensive military capabilities. It requires of the United States adherence to the key pillars of its longstanding policies, including a readiness to sell to Taiwan the defensive weaponry it needs to defend itself, and economic, political, and military articulations of resolve (by the United States and other democracies) to resist any attempt to use force to impose a solution to the Cross-Strait conflict.
We share the many concerns in Taiwan about the current state of Cross-Strait relations. But there is only one actor in this conflict that is using its military in a pattern of increasing intrusion and provocation against the other. That is not the Republic of China, Taiwan, but rather the People's Republic of China.
Larry Diamond and James O. Ellis, Jr., Co-chairs, Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region, and
Kharis Templeman, Program Manager, Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region, Hoover Institution