Taiwan’s opposition Kuomintang party on Friday denied allegations that a delegation it plans to send to a forum on mainland China is aimed at “begging for peace” amid rising tension across the Taiwan Strait.

Led by the self-ruled island’s longest serving speaker of parliament, Wang Jin-pyng, the delegation is to attend the annual Straits Forum in the city of Xiamen later this month.

First organized by the Kuomintang in 2009, when the party was in power, the forum is billed as an unofficial exchange between the two sides on cultural and economic issues. Relations between Beijing and Taipei have deteriorated since the Democratic Progressive Party’s Tsai Ing-wen took power in 2016.

The governing DPP has criticized Wang for going ahead with the trip despite large-scale military exercises by mainland Chinese forces, while state-run media in China recently reported that this year’s delegation is one to “beg for peace.” The report claimed Tsai had tasked Wang’s delegation with seeking reconciliation — which Wang has denied.

Beijing claims Taipei as part of China. However, Taiwan has its own military, government and currency, as well as diplomatic ties with several countries. It has recently bolstered its defenses with several purchases of arms from America.

The KMT has complained to Beijing about the report, a party spokesperson said.

“We hope the mainland will take effective measures and right a wrong in order to create peace, as well as mutual trust and respect,” the spokesperson said. The report distorted an “intention to pursue peace,” the spokesperson said, and undermined positive interactions between Taiwan and mainland China.

The forum is a non-governmental event, the party said, and should not be used for “political propaganda.”

The development drew snide remarks on the internet, with some netizens describing the KMT as being “treated as rubbish” by both the DPP and Beijing.

It is a plot by Beijing to trap the KMT and push for its own agenda, a DPP spokesperson said of the incident, adding that the report has undermined Taiwan’s sovereignty.

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