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Taiwan opposition KMT’s presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih slated for US visit in September
- High interest in New Taipei mayor’s views on island’s defence and security expected among American officials and experts he meets over eight-day trip
- Visit follows US stopovers by poll-topping DPP candidate William Lai Ching-te that upset Beijing and triggered military drills around Taiwan
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Amber Wangin Washington
The presidential candidate for Taiwan’s main opposition party will visit Washington next month and meet members of Congress, think tank experts and the head of the de facto US embassy in Taipei, his campaign office said on Thursday.
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The eight-day trip by Hou Yu-ih, candidate for the Kuomintang, begins on September 14 and takes him to New York and San Francisco in addition to the US capital in advance of the island’s politically sensitive election in January.
Hou’s visit aimed to lay the groundwork for “deeper relations” and promote ongoing “substantive exchanges” between Taiwan and the US, his campaign office said, according to Taiwanese news service CNA.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the visit. But in the past it has condemned trips by Taiwanese officials and semi-official representatives as dangerous separatism.
It is customary for Taiwanese candidates to meet US officials and members of Congress before a presidential election. Such outreach is meant to help Americans understand their policies and can burnish candidates’ overseas credentials with voters back home.
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