Cross-Strait exchange activities to be held during KMT vice chairman's visit: mainland spokesperson

Andrew Hsia, vice chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party, will attend activities organized by both sides of the Taiwan Strait to promote exchanges during his visit to the mainland, a Chinese mainland spokesperson said Wednesday.

Hsia will also visit cities including Nanjing, Wuhan, Chongqing and Chengdu, said Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, at a press conference.

Hsia is scheduled to lead a delegation on a visit to the Chinese mainland from Feb. 8 to 17.

When asked to comment on the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities' smear that "Hsia's visit may fall into the coercive political framework of the mainland," Zhu said the DPP authorities collude with external forces to seek "Taiwan independence" for its own political interests, damaging the interests and welfare of Taiwan compatriots and pushing Taiwan toward a dangerous situation.

In doing this, the DPP authorities are coercing the mainstream will of Taiwan society, and they are the threat to the highest interests of Taiwan, Zhu added.