Senior Opposition Official To Visit China Midweek

MNI (London)-Deputy Chairman of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) Andrew Hsia is set to visit China to meet with senior officials amid heightened tensions between Beijing and Taipei. The KMT is viewed as the less overtly pro-independence of the two main Taiwanese political parties (with the incumbent Democratic Progressive Party of President Tsai Ing-wen more nationalistic).

• Hsia will meet with Song Tao, the new head of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office. The KMT stated that Hsia will "conduct exchanges and dialogue on the basis of equality and dignity", and will "reflect Taiwan's latest public concerns about the security of the Taiwan Strait and expectations for regional peace and stability".
• The exchanges will be the first since Hsia visited Beijing in August 2022, an event condemned by the Tsai administration, which has not held any talks with Beijing since coming to power in 2016.
• The trip comes as the KMT and DPP turn their attention to next year's presidential election, due by April 2024 at the latest. Opinion polling shows that probable DPP candidate Lai Ching-te leading if KMT Chairman Eric Chu is selected as the party candidate. However, should the KMT opt for New Taipei Mayor Hou You-yi then polls show him running ahead of Lai.