Taiwan visit by Chinese delegation spurs internal political tensions

China’s Li Xiaodong, from Shanghai’s Taiwan Affairs Office faces questioning inside Taipei’s city hall after meeting city officials in Taiwan on Monday. Photograph: Ritchie B Tongo/EPA

A Chinese government delegation has visited Taiwan for the first time since the start of the pandemic, sparking some partisan tension on the island over cross-strait interactions as Beijing reiterated its intentions to annex it.

The delegation of six officials, including the deputy head of the Shanghai office of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, Li Xiaodong, arrived in Taipei with plans to visit the Lantern festival and hold talks with local officials. They were invited by the city government, led by mayor Chiang Wan-an, of the opposition Kuomintang party (KMT).