Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (???) has said that he would use an upcoming U.S. tour to counter a ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) “smear campaign” questioning his party’s pro-Washington credentials.

Speaking with reporters at Taoyuan International Airport Thursday ahead of an 11-day trip to Washington D.C., New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, Chu said that he was headed to the U.S. to reaffirm his party’s position as an ally in Washington’s efforts to “safeguard democracy and freedom” amid attempts by the DPP to defame the KMT’s image.

While Chu did not elaborate on the rumors, his comments came a day after DPP spokeswoman Hsieh Pei-fen (???) said Chu was making the trip to “amend KMT’s relations with Washington” after his party’s opposition in recent years to allowing imports of pork containing excessive levels of the feed additive ractopamine.

Ractopamine, while widely used in the rearing of U.S. livestock. is currently banned in approximately 160 countries, including all 27 European Union member states.

At a meeting of the KMT’s Central Standing Committee Wednesday, Chu said that he would use his trip to the U.S. to promote the party’s position as a defender of Taiwan and democratic values, in a rebuke of a “yearslong smear campaign” by the DPP.

Meanwhile, Chu did not confirm reports of meetings with senior U.S. officials including Kurt Campbell, Coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs in the U.S. National Security Council, Rush Doshi, National Security Council’s director for China, and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel J. Kritenbrink, saying that he would not disclose his full itinerary out of “respect for Washington.”

One confirmed stop on Chu’s U.S. visit is to attend the plaque-unveiling ceremony to reopen the KMT’s liaison office in Washington on June 8.

In addition, Chu will also meet representatives from a wide range of sectors and exchange views on the deepening of U.S.-Taiwan relations and the situation in the Indo-Pacific region.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel