According to a statement released by the Kuomintang (KMT) on Monday, a senior leader from Taiwan's largest opposition party will travel to China this week in order to meet with the most senior Taiwan policymaker from China.
Given the current tensions between Taiwan and China, the KMT announced that its Deputy Chairman Andrew Hsia would travel to China on Wednesday to meet Song Tao, who was recently appointed to lead China's Taiwan Affairs Office. This meeting would be a rare high-level interaction between top politicians from Taiwan and China.
The KMT said Hsia and his group will "conduct exchanges and dialogue on the basis of equality and dignity" Hsia is a former Taiwanese diplomat who also served as the head of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council at one point.
In the past three years, China has significantly increased the amount of pressure it is putting on Taiwan to accept Chinese sovereignty. As part of this campaign, China has been conducting routine military maneuvers in close proximity to the democratically administered island. The government of Taiwan denies the territorial claims made by China.
According to the party, these policies would "reflect Taiwan's latest public concerns about the security of the Taiwan Strait and expectations for regional peace and stability."
Although the KMT has long supported tight connections with China, the party vehemently rejects the notion that it is pro-Beijing. The Taiwan Affairs Office in China expressed its satisfaction with Hsia's visit.
Hsia went to China in August of last year, on a trip that was condemned by Taiwan's government. This visit came shortly after Beijing staged war games near Taiwan as an expression of its anger at a visit to Taipei by Nancy Pelosi, who was serving as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives at the time.
Tsai Ing-wen, the president of Taiwan, has made numerous requests for discussion to be resumed, but China has ignored all of them. China believes that Tsai Ing-wen is a separatist and has refused to talk with her administration ever since she took office in 2016, when she was first elected.
The KMT has provided an explanation in support of its outreach to China, stating that it is essential to maintain open channels of communication.
According to a statement released by the party regarding Hsia's visit, in light of the current "stalemate" in relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, "it is natural not to sit idly by"
"After returning to Taiwan, the visiting delegation will truthfully reflect what it has seen and heard to Taiwan society and government departments to facilitate the formulation and promotion of follow-up policies," the KMT added.
