Senior Taiwan opposition leader to visit China

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
6 Feb 2023 14:41
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The KMT announces that its vice chairman, Andrew Hsia, would travel to China on Wednesday to meet with Song Tao, the recently appointed head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office.

A senior leader of Taiwan's largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), Andrew Hsia (AFP)

A senior leader of Taiwan's largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), will visit China this week and meet with China's top Taiwan policymaker, the party announced on Monday, amid ongoing military and political tensions between Beijing and Taipei.

The KMT announced that its vice chairman, Andrew Hsia, would travel to China on Wednesday to meet with Song Tao, the recently appointed head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, in a rare high-level meeting between Taiwan and China's senior lawmakers.

The KMT has long supported tight ties with China, and Hsia's visit was welcomed by China's Taiwan Affairs Office.

Hsia visited China in August last year, on a trip criticized by Taiwan's government, just after Beijing performed military games near Taiwan in response to then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's provocative visit to Taipei.

The KMT has justified its outreach to China, arguing that channels of dialogue must be maintained.

Tensions soared between China and Taiwan in the past few months, reaching their highest in decades, amid warnings from Beijing for both Washington and Taipei against fueling the situation in Southeast Asia.

Taiwan announced plans on increasing its security budget in light of rising tensions with Beijing, especially due to the latest developments that drove a wider wedge between China and Taipei.

It also proposed a security budget of $13.7 billion for 2023, marking a 13% year-on-year increase, pending parliamentary approval.

The island will also create a special budget allocated specifically for the acquisition of fighter jets and other aircraft and naval vessels to boost its capabilities in the maritime and aerial arenas.

This comes at a time when the United States is exerting more pressure on its security allies, such as South Korea, the Netherlands, Taiwan, and Japan to abide by broad restrictions on the export of cutting-edge semiconductors to China.