Just after the People¡¯s Liberation Army sent ballistic missiles flying over Taiwan and effectively blockaded the island¡¯s ports in a ferocious show of force in the aftermath of a visit by U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the vice chairman of the opposition Kuomintang, or Nationalist party, Andrew Hsia, began a 17-day visit to the mainland with cries of ¡°traitor¡± ringing in his ears.
Upon his return, KMT Chairman Eric Chu had one word to describe Hsia, who had met with mainland officials responsible for dealing with Taiwan: ¡°Brave.¡±
This is an apt description, though perhaps not the only one. The KMT knew the governing Democratic Progressive Party would cast the trip as a betrayal of Taiwan while sucking up to the mainland at the very time when Beijing was threatening the continued existence of the island as a political entity.
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