Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang delegation begins trip to mainland China

The group, led by the party’s vice-chairman Andrew Hsia, has been criticised for visiting amid Beijing’s ongoing military exercises

Hsia says the fact-finding visit was planned months ago and is intended to understand the difficulties Taiwanese living on the mainland face

Reading Time:3 minutes

Andrew Hsia has defended the trip saying it does not mean the KMT will bow to Beijing’s will. Photo: CNA

Published: 7:00pm, 10 Aug 2022

Taiwan’s main opposition party Kuomintang has sent a delegation to mainland China amid Beijing’s ongoing sabre-rattling against the self-ruled island.

KMT vice-chairman Andrew Hsia – a former head of the Mainland Affairs Council, the island’s top mainland policy planning body – and his group left for Xiamen in Fujian on Wednesday afternoon for what the party described as a 17-day “fact-finding” trip to boost cross-strait communication and to understand the plight Taiwanese people face in mainland China.

“At this critical time, we need to show our concerns to our [compatriots] in mainland China and there is also a strong need for the two sides to have more communication channels,” Hsia said at Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport before departing.

As a party well versed in handling cross-strait relations, Hsia said the KMT had a responsibility to understand the difficulties Taiwanese businessmen, students and others faced as cross-strait relations continued to sour.

Taiwan’s relations with the mainland have been getting worse ever since Tsai Ing-wen was elected president in 2016 and refused to accept the one-China principle.

Beijing suspended official exchanges with Taiwan and stepped up military intimidation against the island after Tsai moved closer to the United States to counter the mainland.