Taiwan vice president makes rare Europe visit for conference on democracy

Taiwan’s vice president, Hsiao Bi-khim, has travelled to the Italian island of Ventotene to take part in a forum on democracy, the presidential office said in a short statement. Hsiao is reported to be attending the Ventotene Conference for Freedom and Democracy and is travelling with Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung; officials said further details would be released after they return to Taiwan.

European Parliament vice president Pina Picierno said Hsiao’s attendance was not made public before her arrival in order to safeguard her participation. Picierno argued that European countries should be free to decide which guests to host and which voices are heard, and said democratic debate must not be shaped by intimidation from autocratic states.

The visit is unusual because, while Taiwan’s foreign ministers sometimes travel to European venues that do not have formal diplomatic ties with the island, it is rare for an official at the vice-presidential level to do so. The presidential office and European hosts appear to have taken precautions given the potential for Beijing to react against countries that host senior Taiwanese officials.

The Ventotene meeting, running Thursday through Saturday this week, is expected to include other prominent participants such as Oleksandra Matviichuk, a 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and president of Ukraine’s Centre for Civil Liberties. China maintains that Taiwan is a province of the mainland, a position rejected by the democratically governed island; Hsiao previously spoke at last November’s Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China summit in Brussels.