Visits by multiple Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers to China’s Xiamen yesterday have sparked concern.
Lawmakers Lin Szu-ming (林思銘) and Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) were among those identified visiting.
In response to media queries, Lin said he was invited by the organizers to attend the Xiamen Taiwan Businessmen Association’s event in Xiamen.
Their presence at the event is a gesture of respect for the association’s head, a businessman surnamed Han (韓), a friend from Hsinchu County, he said.
Weng yesterday confirmed that she is taking part in the event, but said she knows nothing about a delegation of KMT lawmakers or meeting any Chinese government officials there.
When told KMT Legislator Yeh Yuan-chih (葉元之) was seen boarding the same flight as her, Wen said she had no idea about her colleague’s plans.
Commenting on condition of anonymity, multiple Taiwanese businesspeople have said that the Chinese government is pressuring KMT lawmakers to stop Taiwan’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.6 billion) special defense budget and national security law amendments via go-betweens in the business community.
KMT Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍), who initially invited fellow KMT lawmakers to the Xiamen event, ended up not making the visit herself.
Chen said the Xiamen Taiwanese Business Association has already been operating for 33 years and that it holds this particular event every year on Dec 20.
“It is completely normal for our colleagues to go and to show care for Taiwanese businesspeople,” she said.
When reached for comment, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) yesterday said the KMT lawmakers were “going to China again to receive instructions.”
Spikes in the frequency of KMT lawmakers’ contacts with China routinely coincide with the lead-up to votes on important bills concerning national security and cross-strait relations in the Legislative Yuan, she said.
The legislature is on the verge of voting on multiple high-profile bills, including arms purchases, National Security Act (國家安全法) amendments, nationality, and regulations on the government’s power to pull broadcasters off the air for untruthful reporting, Wu said.
The KMT delegation’s visit to China at this critical juncture is highly suspicious, especially as the legislature on Friday voted to extend the session to the end of January next year, she said.
She questioned whether the visits “meant to show submission to China, or to pave the way for a meeting between KMT Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).”
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