Finance
Despite ongoing tensions in the region caused by People’s Liberation Army (PLA) military drills, Taiwan’s main opposition party has sent a delegation to China.
According to the dpa news agency, a delegation led by Andrew Hsia, vice chairman of Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang (KMT), left for China on Wednesday.
It was a long-planned trip to meet Taiwanese businessmen and some nationals studying or living in China, primarily in the south-eastern coastal provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang, as well as the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong Province, according to the KMT.
There are no appointments scheduled in Beijing.
The delegation led by Hsia’s quarantine period in China ends on August 21, after which they will return to Taiwan on August 27.
The trip has sparked controversy because Taiwan has been under pressure as a result of Beijing’s recent military and economic campaign against Taiwan in retaliation for Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen was dissatisfied with the KMT’s visit.
“At this moment, the KMT still insisted on going to China, disappointing our people. The way it acts is sending the wrong message to the international community,” Tsai said on Wednesday afternoon at a meeting of her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Historically, the KMT has maintained closer ties with the Chinese government than the ruling DPP, which leans more toward independence.
Source:OCN
