Ties with China likely worse if opposition returns to power: KMT chief

[TAIPEI] Taiwan's ruling party presidential candidate warned on Thursday that the island's ties with China will likely deteriorate if the opposition party returns to power next year.

Eric Chu, who is also the chairman of the Nationalists, known as the Kuomintang (KMT) in Chinese, was speaking at a press conference ahead of talks on Saturday in Singapore between the leaders of Taiwan and China.

It will be the first such meeting between the two political rivals since the Chinese civil war ended in 1949 and comes weeks ahead of elections on the island.

Chu and his Nationalists are trailing in opinion polls ahead of a January vote for a new president and legislature. The presidential frontrunner leads the independence-leaning opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which China loathes.

REUTERS