TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Kuomintang (KMT) decision to send its vice chairman, Andrew Hsia (夏立言), on a trip to China Wednesday (Aug. 10) while Beijing continued to hold military drills and to send its warplanes and ships close to Taiwan has been drawing sharp criticism even from inside the party.

Speaking to the media ahead of his journey Wednesday, Hsia said the trip had been arranged months ago and would mainly include meetings with Taiwanese business people, CNA reported. He also said that Beijing was not on his itinerary, though he did not exclude meetings with Chinese officials if they requested so.

The plan for the trip, which leaked to the media Tuesday (Aug. 9), drew widespread condemnation, and not only from political opponents. Mostly young KMT politicians across Taiwan launched a petition calling on their party to “stop the visit, listen to public opinion,” CNA reported.

Referring to the Nov. 26 elections for mayors, county commissioners, and city and county councilors, Hsia said his trip had not been subject to electoral considerations. The signatories to the petition were mainly candidates or members of the city and county councils.

According to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Hsia’s travel not only showed bad timing and confused logic, but also amounted to the KMT turning its back on the efforts of Taiwan’s military to defend the country. The trip also gave indirect evidence that during a cross-strait conflict, the KMT might lose the will to fight, the DPP said. The ruling party also noted that Hsia’s delegation included former legislator Kao Su-po (高思博), a brother-in-law of KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫).

Hsia will not return to Taiwan until Aug. 27, because he will be able to spend only the final seven days traveling after a long period in COVID quarantine. He was expected to report to the government’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) after his return.

The MAC reportedly voiced strong objections to its former minister’s trip, but it had no authority to stop him because he left government service more than five years ago.