A delegation to China led by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言) sparked controversy over the weekend amid speculation that they might meet with top Chinese officials today.
It is rumored that the delegation has a “hidden itinerary,” which includes meeting Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Liu Jieyi (劉結一) and Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Chairman Zhang Zhijun (張志軍).
The KMT has said that the group would not meet with top Chinese officials or discuss political issues during the visit.
Photo provided by the KMT
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday said that the goal of the visit is to solve problems related to Taiwanese businesspeople, adding that he has not heard about a hidden itinerary.
The KMT mentioned to the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) before the trip that the group might meet with Liu and other officials, but did not specify a time or place, said a government official who asked to remain anonymous.
The MAC had tried dissuading the KMT delegation from visiting China amid Beijing’s military exercises around Taiwan and economic sanctions against the nation, the official added.
Hsia’s delegation arrived in China on Aug. 10, with some KMT members calling the timing of the visit improper, as it came shortly after China on Aug. 4 began live-fire drills in waters around Taiwan. The military exercises were in response US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Aug. 2 to 3 visit to Taipei.
The KMT Culture and Communications Committee yesterday said in a statement that the delegation on Saturday completed their 10-day COVID-19 quarantine.
That night, the group dined with Xiamen officials and Xiamen Taiwanese Businessmen Association chairman Wu Chia-ying (吳家瑩), it said, adding that they held a forum to share ideas with Taiwanese businesspeople yesterday.
The statement said that Hsia had asked Xiamen officials to reopen the “small three links” to allow people-to-people exchanges across the Taiwan Strait, which were suspended in February 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The “small three links” are the ferry services connecting China’s Fujian Province with Penghu, Kinmen and Lienchiang counties.
The trip was planned because some Taiwanese businesspeople hoped to meet KMT members, as they had not visited China for years, Hsia said.
KMT Taipei mayoral candidate Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) yesterday urged Hsia to clearly state his stance against China’s drills and make the itinerary transparent.
Additional reporting by Tsai Si-pei
STRENGTHENING: The defense budget this year is to focus on replenishment of artillery and rocket stocks, and equipment for F-16 jets, the defense ministry said Defense spending this year is to focus on preparing weapons and equipment for a “total blockade” by China, including parts for F-16 jets and replenishing weapons, the military said in a report. China staged war games around the nation in August last year, firing missiles over Taipei and declaring no-fly and no-sail zones in a simulation of how it would seek to cut Taiwan off in a war. In a report seeking legislative budget approval, the Ministry of National Defense said it began reviewing its strategic fuel reserves and repair abilities last year, but did not give details. In “anticipation of a total
ANTI-SHIP CONFIGURATION: The Tuo Chiang-class vessels are to be built for NT$9.7 billion by Lung Teh, a shipyard that previously built four similar corvettes for the navy The Ministry of National Defense on Wednesday awarded Lung Teh Shipbuilding (龍德造船) a NT$9.7 billion Co (US$317.57 million) contract to build five Tuo Chiang-class corvettes with anti-ship capabilities, a defense official familiar with the matter said yesterday. The corvettes would carry vertical launchers for four Hsiung Feng II (HF-2) missiles, as well as eight Hsiung Feng III (HF-3) anti-ship missiles, in contrast to ships configured for anti-air warfare, which carry eight HF-2 and four HF-3 missiles, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The anti-ship corvettes would be armed for improved standoff range against surface combatants and carry the latest
NINE TYPES: One of the devices can be carried by a single soldier and can destroy high-value, high-risk vehicles as well as target personnel, an official said Taiwan’s top military research body yesterday unveiled nine domestically developed drones in Taichung, including a loitering munition, or “suicide drone,” similar to the US-made AeroVironment Switchblade 300. The surveillance and attack drones shown to the media by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology included the Albatross medium-range uncrewed aerial vehicle Nos. 1 and 2, and the Teng Yun 2 and Cardinal 2 and 3 indigenous uncrewed combat aerial vehicles. The institute also unveiled a domestically made drone inspired by the AeroVironment Switchblade 300, which Ukrainian forces have employed in the country’s war with Russia. Aeronautical Systems Research Division head Chi Li-pin (齊立平)
PARTIAL SUPPORT: Morris Chang said he agrees with the US’ goal to slow advances of China’s chip sector, but US policies that might boost chip prices perplex him Washington’s efforts to on-shore semiconductor production might lead to surges in chip prices and supply bottlenecks, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) said yesterday. The 91-year-old industry veteran said he supports parts of Washington’s effort to slow China’s progress on advanced chip manufacturing. China is still six years behind Taiwan in making advanced chips, despite years-long efforts to catch up, Chang told a Commonwealth Magazine forum that he coheadlined with Tufts University assistant professor Chris Miller, an expert on the US-China rivalry’s effects on chip manufacturing. However, Chang said that other parts of the effort, particularly Washington’s on-shoring