New Bloom (Taipei) — The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is defending a trip to mainland China made by party Vice-Chair Andrew Hsia which provoked criticism from within the opposition party itself as well as from the Taiwanese government.

The political sensitivity of the visit is related to the fact that it was announced shortly after the unprecedented live-fire drills held around Taiwan by the People’s Liberation Army. The live-fire drills involved missiles being fired over Taiwan, as well as drills that took place closer to Taiwan than during the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis of 1995-1996.

There was backlash from within the KMT shortly after the trip was announced, with a group of younger party members (primarily city councillors or city councillor candidates in Taipei, New Taipei, Changhua, and Pingtung) urging that the trip be reconsidered. They published and open letter emphasizing the dangers for the party–mainly that the trip would strengthen perceptions of the KMT as being linked to the Chinese Communist Party in a way that might be electorally damaging.

The Mainland Affairs Council, a cabinet-level administrative agency under the Executive Yuan, was also critical of the trip, escalating its condemnation as the days passed. At first the council simply advised against the trip, and then later accused Hsia of coordinating it with China.

The Presidential Office revealed that the KMT had applied for the visit at the same time as the drills were occurring, not earlier as the opposition party had previously indicated.

Much speculation revolved around the question of whether or not the KMT would conduct meetings with Chinese government officials during Hsia’s trip. The KMT initially denied this, stating that the trip was primarily to meet with Taiwanese living in China, as a fact-finding trip regarding their current circumstances. Subsequently, the KMT denied reports that Hsia would meet with Taiwan Affairs Office Director Liu Jieyi.

During the trip, however, Hsia did meet with Chen Yuanfeng, the deputy head of the Taiwan Affairs Office. Hsia also met with Zhang Zhijun, currently the director of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, who also served as head of the Taiwan Affairs Office from March 2013 to March 2018. Zhang referred to Hsia as an “old friend.”

For his part, Hsia defended the trip, stating that he brought up with the Chinese officials he met the fact that Taiwanese had disapproved of the live-fire drills, and he said that he also presented Taiwanese criticisms about other measures which China has taken against Taiwan, such as the citrus import ban.

Other significant KMT figures defended the trip, such as former President Ma Ying-jeou, who claimed that it was necessary to maintain direct communication with China.

Even party Chair Eric Chu defended the visit, in spite of his efforts to change the KMT’s reputation from being a pro-China party to being a pro-United States organization. (Chu made a much-publicized visit to the United States earlier this year for the reopening of the KMT’s Washington DC office).

However, this expression of support for Hsia may reflect Chu’s relatively weak position in the party, demonstrating his inability to impose his strategy as fully as he would like.

For the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), of course, Hsia’s visit to China represented a political windfall, even if cross-Strait issues do not appear to be shaping up as the focus of the upcoming midterm elections.

It is also worth noting that Hsia’s visit did not create any sense of alarm within government circles as have similar occasions in the past. Previously, DPP leaders felt concern about the possibility that the KMT could attempt to circumvent government authority and sign its own peace treaty with China. The KMT’s weaker level of domestic support has eased such fears.

This article was originally published in New Bloom. Some edits for style.

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