European Parliament Vice President Pina Picierno said Hsiao’s participation was disclosed only after her arrival to protect her involvement in the conference.
Taiwanese Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim is making a rare trip to Europe to attend a democracy forum in Italy, accompanied by Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung, according to the presidential office.
Hsiao was invited to the Ventotene Conference for Freedom and Democracy. The presidential office confirmed in a brief statement that Lin will travel with her.
Further details will be announced after the two officials return to Taiwan from the Italian island of Ventotene.
Taiwanese foreign ministers occasionally visit Europe and other countries without formal diplomatic ties to the island. However, a vice presidential visit is far rarer, particularly because Beijing could retaliate against the host country.
Pina Picierno, vice president of the European Parliament, said Hsiao’s participation “was kept secret until her arrival to protect her participation” in the conference.
“No one can determine who can be hosted on European soil, what voices can be heard, and what presences must be hidden,” Picierno wrote in a Facebook post. “It is a simple and very clear message: intimidation cannot decide who participates in our democratic debate.”
“Freedom of debate is not negotiable with autocracies. And Ventotene, more than ever today, must continue to be the place where freedom and democracy are defended without fear,” she added.
The conference runs from Thursday through Saturday this week. Like most countries, Italy does not maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which China claims as one of its provinces.
Oleksandra Matviichuk, a 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and president of Ukraine’s Centre for Civil Liberties, is also expected to attend.
China considers Taiwan to be part of its territory, a position the island’s democratically elected government rejects.
During a visit to Brussels last November, Hsiao addressed the annual summit of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China at the European Parliament.
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