PRAGUE: Taiwan’s Vice-President Hsiao Bi-khim said she will not be intimidated by China after Czech military intelligence said Chinese diplomats and secret service followed Hsiao and planned to intimidate her physically when she visited Prague last year.
Hsiao visited the Czech Republic in March 2024. Prague does not have official diplomatic ties with Taiwan but has fostered warm relations with the island, which China views as its own territory despite Taiwan’s rejection.
Czech media reported last year that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light when following her car. Czech public radio news website irozhlas.cz said on Thursday (Jun 26) that the Chinese had also planned to stage a demonstrative car crash.
“I had a great visit to Prague & thank the Czech authorities for their hospitality & ensuring my safety. The CCP’s unlawful activities will NOT intimidate me from voicing Taiwan’s interests in the international community,” Hsiao wrote in a post on X social media platform on Saturday, referring to the Chinese Communist Party. Her post was linked to the Reuters report on the incident.
In a separate post on X, Hsiao thanked global parliamentarians who have expressed solidarity against “violence and coercion”.
“Taiwan will not be isolated by intimidation,” Hsiao wrote.
A Czech Military Intelligence spokesman said Chinese diplomats in Prague had taken actions that violated diplomatic rules.
“This consisted of physically following the vice-president, gathering information on her schedule and attempts to document her meetings with important representatives of the Czech political and public scene,” spokesman Jan Pejsek said in emailed comments to Reuters.
“We even recorded an attempt by the Chinese civil secret service to create conditions to perform a demonstrative kinetic action against a protected person, which however did not go beyond the phase of preparation.”
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/taiwan-vice-president-china-planned-physical-intimidation-prague-visit-czech-republic-5209741
