TAIPEI (Reuters) – A senior leader of the Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan's main opposition party, is in China for meetings with the Taiwanese community, his party said on Thursday, a highly sensitive visit one month before elections on the island.
The previously unreported trip of KMT Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia, a former Taiwanese diplomat and one-time head of Taiwan's China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council, comes as his party seeks to narrow the ruling party's lead ahead of the Jan. 13 presidential and parliamentary elections.
The vote will affect Taiwan's future relations with China, which views the island as its own territory and has stepped up military and political pressure to assert those sovereignty claims.
Hsia, who arrived on Wednesday, is visiting Chengdu, Nanchang, Zhongshan, Xiamen and Chongqing at the invitation of the Taiwanese business community in China and will attend events with them, the party said in a statement sent to Reuters.
"This trip is mainly to continue the achievements and goals of the past few visits to mainland China," it said.
"Through participating in activities, (the party) cares about Taiwanese businesspeople and Taiwanese compatriots, listens to everyone's opinions, and contributes to the peace, stability and prosperity of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait," the statement said.
The Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the KMT statement did not say whether Hsia plans to meet them.
Two sources briefed on the trip, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media, told Reuters that Hsia was likely to meet Taiwan Affairs Office officials.
Hsia has been to China at least three times in the last year and a half, including a controversial visit in August 2022 shortly after China staged war games around the island in response to a Taipei visit by then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu at the time defended that visit as a "brave" outreach to China, even though Taiwan's government condemned it and even some party members were upset at the timing.
In February and June, Hsia met Song Tao, the head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office.
The KMT traditionally favours close ties with China but strongly denies being pro-Beijing.
There is nothing illegal about Hsia going to China, and both the KMT and ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), whose presidential candidate Lai Ching-te leads in the polls, have encouraged overseas Taiwanese to come home to vote.
Taiwan has no absentee or proxy voting system; all voting must take place in person in Taiwan.
China detests Lai, believing he is a separatist, and has rebuffed repeated offers of talks with him.
The Taiwan Affairs Office on Wednesday repeated its attacks on Lai, saying he was a "Taiwan independence worker" – a comment Lai has previously made though not this time on the campaign trail – and a "bringer of war".
The KMT says if it wins the presidential election it will re-engage with Beijing and lower tensions, but has also pledged to continue boosting Taiwan's defences.