The leader of Taiwan’s main opposition party, Kuomintang (KMT) chairperson Cheng Li-wun, has accepted an invitation from Chinese leader Xi Jinping to visit China in April, according to her party and Chinese state media.

Cheng, who took up her role in November, had insisted on meeting Xi before she makes an official trip to the United States, drawing criticism from inside and outside her party that she is too pro-China. The KMT advocates closer relations and more exchanges with China, which claims Taiwan is part of its territory.

The visit to China comes after Cheng publicly pushed for a meeting with Xi, who has been instrumental in shaping the country’s policy towards Taiwan. Chinese state media said the delegation would visit the eastern province of Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing from April 7-12, but did not specify if Cheng would meet with Xi.

Speaking after the announcement, Cheng said she hoped to prove that “the two sides of the strait are not doomed to war”. Her visit has raised concerns within the KMT that a Cheng-Xi meeting could trigger voter backlash in Taiwan’s district elections later this year.

The trip will be the first visit to China by a sitting KMT chairperson since November 2016 when then KMT leader Hung Hsiu-chu met with Xi in Beijing. The move is likely to further strain relations between the two parties, which have been at odds over issues related to Taiwan’s future.