Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言) is in China for meetings with the Taiwanese community, the party said on Thursday.
The trip by the former Mainland Affairs Council head comes as his party seeks to narrow the Democratic Progressive Party’s lead ahead of the Jan. 13 presidential and legislative elections.
Hsia, who arrived on Wednesday, is visiting Chengdu, Nanchang, Zhongshan, Xiamen and Chongqing at the invitation of the Taiwanese business community in China, and is to attend events with them, the party said in a statement.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
Hsia's visit had been planned since October, and is mainly aimed at "continuing the achievements and goals" of previous trips, it added.
"Under the highly tense relationship between the US and the Beijing authorities, the leaders of the two sides still need to maintain channels of communication," the KMT said.
China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Two sources briefed on the trip, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media, told Reuters that Hsia was likely to meet TAO officials.
The KMT said it was untrue that Hsia would meet with "senior" TAO officials.
Hsia has been to China four times in the past year and a half, including a controversial visit in August last year shortly after China staged war games around the island in response to a Taipei visit by then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi.
In February, June and August, Hsia met TAO Director Song Tao (宋濤).
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