A leader of Taiwan's Nationalist Party visits China as the island's presidential election looms

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A leader of Taiwan’s main opposition Nationalist Party is visiting rival China less than one month before the self-governing island republic holds elections for president and the legislature under intense pressure from Beijing.

In a news release Thursday, the party — also known as the Kuomintang or KMT — said vice chair Andrew Hsia and his delegation departed for China on Wednesday at the invitation of Taiwanese businesspeople. It called the trip a mission to maintain contacts and contribute to “peace, stability and prosperity between the two sides.”

Though the party said the invitation was accepted in October, the visit comes at a sensitive time as the Nationalists seek to regain the presidency and legislature from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which has been shunned by China for its insistence that Taiwan is an independent country.

China claims Taiwan is part of its territory, to be brought under its control by military force if necessary. The Nationalists ruled Taiwan under martial law for almost four decades after fleeing to the island amid the Communist takeover of mainland China in 1949 and formally agree with Beijing that both sides are part of a single Chinese nation.

Most surveys show the party's ticket of former national police chief Hou You-yi and his running mate, ex-legislator Jaw Shaw-kong, are well behind the DPP's William Lai, currently vice president, and vice presidential candidate Bi-khim Hsiao, Taiwan's former representative to the United States. That appears to reflect the prevailing sentiment among Taiwanese of maintaining their current status of de-facto independence, even while maintaining close economic ties with China.

On Wednesday, China's Taiwan Affairs Office denounced Lai as a “troublemaker” and “war-maker." Spokesperson Zhu Fenglian said Taiwanese should reject independence “for the sake of their peace, stability and well-being.”

In its statement, the Nationalist Party said it is committed to Taiwan's security and democracy, and to peace and stability between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. It accused the DPP of generating “fake news" concerning contacts between Nationalist officials and the ruling Chinese Communist Party, saying that was an attempt to smear a “normal and appropriate agenda to conduct exchanges on the mainland to serve Taiwan compatriots and Taiwan businesspeople.”

The statement said Taiwanese on the mainland needed particular care “at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and Beijing authorities,” and leaders must maintain channels of communication.

That appeared to cast Hsia in the role of go-between, although there was no indication he had been entrusted with carrying any specific messages to the Chinese authorities. The statement did not say whether Hsia would be meeting any high-ranking Chinese officials.

Contacts between Taiwan politicians and China have come under particular scrutiny in the run-up to the election amid concerns Beijing will seek to influence the vote by offering favors and spreading disinformation. Prosecutors have been looking into trips to China by grassroots ward chiefs during which their expenses were covered by the Chinese government, saying that is part of a long-term “united front” strategy of steering votes toward pro-unification politicians.

The Nationalists said Hsia was due to visit cities including Chengdu, Nanchang, Zhongshan, Xiamen, and Chongqing on what it termed a listening tour.

It's at least his second trip to China in 2023; a visit in February included a meeting with the head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, Song Tao.

Since President Tsai Ing-wen first took office in 2016, China has refused all contact with Taiwan’s government over her refusal to recognize the “One China” principle embodied in an earlier agreement brokered by the Nationalists and mainland Communists known as the “’92 Consensus.”

The vast majority of Taiwan’s 23 million people support the status quo of de-facto independence. Tsai, who is limited to two four-year terms, says there is no need to make a formal declaration that would likely spark a military response from China.