Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Andrew Hsia (夏立言) left Taiwan for a 10-day visit to the US on Thursday.
This was part of the party’s efforts to strengthen ties with Washington.
Speaking with reporters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Hsia did not reveal the details of his trip, saying only that he would meet with many “old friends” in Washington, as well as KMT members in San Francisco.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
Hsia denied that his sojourn aimed to provide a counterweight to former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) ongoing visit to China, saying that the timing was “purely coincidental.”
The KMT has consistently maintained the policy pursued during Ma’s presidency of “being close to the US, friendly to Japan and in harmony with China,” he said.
It had been some time since he had visited the US, Hsia said, adding that he would seek to demonstrate the party’s emphasis on its relations with Washington during the trip.
Hsia and KMT International Affairs Department head Alexander Huang (黃介正) had been invited by the Center for Strategic and International Studies to attend the Washington-based think tank’s US-Japan-Taiwan Track 2 trilateral tabletop exercises, the KMT said in a statement on Wednesday.
Hsia would also call on Taiwanese expatriates in San Francisco and Washington, the KMT said, adding that US government officials and friends at US think tanks had invited him for talks after learning of his upcoming visit.
The KMT said that it has continued to beef up its party diplomacy after the presidential and legislative elections in January.
Hsia’s US trip follows a visit by KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) to Singapore in February.
Hsia is scheduled to return to Taiwan on April 15.
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