KMT delegation to visit mainland China for talks with Taiwan affairs officials

Kuomintang vice-chairman Andrew Hsia will head the group as they travel to discuss cross-strait affairs and meet Taiwanese residents on mainland

Delegation’s visit will be ‘strictly apolitical’, says source with island’s main opposition party

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KMT vice-chair Andrew Hsia (centre) last visited mainland China on a controversial “fact-finding” tour in August.

Published: 2:59pm, 6 Feb 2023Updated: 5:33pm, 6 Feb 2023

Taiwan’s main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party will send its vice-chairman to mainland China for talks with Song Tao, head of the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing, and other senior officials involved in cross-strait issues.

In a statement on Monday, the KMT said Andrew Hsia would head a KMT delegation to visit the mainland for 10 days from Wednesday for exchanges and dialogues with officials and Taiwanese people based on the mainland.

It said the visit, which would also be an opportunity for the delegation to learn about the views and needs of Taiwanese residents on the mainland, would take Hsia and his group to Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, Chongqing and Chengdu.

“Paying attention to Taiwanese people on the mainland, reflecting their opinions to relevant authorities, and interactions with personnel involved in cross-strait affairs will be the three major purposes of the visit,” it said.

The statement said arrangements had also been made for the delegation to visit Song for exchanges and dialogue “based on parity and dignity”.

Song, 67, a veteran diplomat best known for an ice-breaking visit to North Korea in 2017 as President Xi Jinping’s special envoy, replaced Liu Jieyi, 65, as head of both the Communist Party’s Taiwan Work Office and the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office in December.

During their meeting in Beijing, Hsia is expected to discuss Taiwanese public opinion with Song and express his concerns about cross-strait security as well as peace and stability in the region.

The vice-chairman would also convey to Song the wishes of the Taiwanese people, especially those in the farming and fishing industries as well as small and medium enterprises, it said.