As Taiwan's year-end local elections heat up, Hsu Kung-fan, the Kuomintang's candidate for mayor of Toufen in Miaoli, has been revealed to have led delegations to China over an extended period, on itineraries closely tied to Chinese united front agencies — negative news for his campaign.

• Hsu Kung-fan was found to have led multiple delegations to China, hosted mostly by local Taiwan Affairs Offices and united front work departments.
• Among them, a 2023 delegation trip to Leshan in Sichuan was listed outright on the official Chinese website "Sichuan United Front" as an achievement of united front work.
• Critics say these itineraries were not simply civic or cultural exchanges, but were counted toward performance targets in China's work on Taiwan.
• Hsu Kung-fan's campaign team responded that it would "decline to comment for now," offering no direct explanation.
• His opponent is independent candidate Tseng Wen-hsueh, who is likewise moving up from the Miaoli County Council.

Outlook: The China factor is expected to become the central theme of the Toufen mayoral race, and if Hsu Kung-fan continues to sidestep the issue, the pressure will only grow.