Taiwan's ruling party says opposition lawmakers have blocked national security bills nearly 1,300 times while making repeated trips to China, a fight that goes to the heart of the island's defenses against Beijing's influence.

• Fifteen DPP lawmakers proposed rules requiring legislators to register trips to China, and the KMT and TPP have blocked the bills 1,297 times in committee and on the floor.
• The push follows six meetings between KMT caucus leaders, including Fu Kun-chi, and Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office in recent years.
• The stated goal is to stop officials, retired military officers, and lawmakers from taking cues from Beijing and echoing its messaging.
• DPP lawmaker Kuo Yu-ching says nobody is banned from visiting China, only that the public deserves to know what happens on those trips, and asks what the opposition is hiding.
• The DPP now plans to take the fight to voters directly, naming each blocked bill rather than fighting it out in the legislature.

Outlook: With the opposition holding a legislative majority, the bills are likely to stay frozen, turning this into a campaign issue rather than a law any time soon.