Taichung's deputy mayor is heading to a trade fair in China next week, and opposition politicians are questioning whether the real purpose is business or backroom politics.

• Deputy Mayor Cheng Chao-hsin travels to China on September 2 for a Taiwan products expo in Dongguan.
• DPP city councillors demand there be no secret meetings with China's Taiwan Affairs Office behind the trade agenda.
• One councillor handed him a cap embroidered with the Republic of China flag and told him to wear it in China.
• Cheng says the trip is about business and local exporters, not politics, and that the city is only there to support them.
• The subtext is the 2028 presidential race: opposition figures suspect groundwork for Mayor Lu Shiu-yen's ambitions.

Outlook: Expect more pressure on Lu over whether she plans her own China visit before her term as mayor ends.