When Taiwanese businessman Jhang Yun-nan wanted to find buyers for his company's new cleaning products in China, he turned to an unconventional channel: a Taiwanese party that advocates the unification of China with the self-ruled democratic island.

A senior member of the Chinese Unification Promotion Party said the group would "have a word" with officials from Guangdong's Administration for Market Regulation to help Jhang's China-based Yi Yuan Ji Biotechnology Co. — on one condition.

The member, Lin Guo-cing, told Jhang in the presence of Reuters that a "correct ideology" is needed to do business in China, touting access to dozens of Chinese officials in Guangdong.