Taiwan’s vice-president has said she will not be intimidated after reports by Czech intelligence that Chinese officials planned to stage a car collision when she was in Prague last year.
Hsiao Bi-khim visited theCzech Republicin March 2024, in the first overseas visit by her and Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, after winning the election in January. It was reported at the time that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following her car – under police escort – from the airport.
This week Prague intelligence officials told local media that the incident was part of a much larger and escalatory plan by Chinese diplomats and intelligence officers working out of the embassy in Prague, which included preparing to stage an apparent car collision.
On Saturday, Hsiao thanked Czech authorities for ensuring her safety during the visit. “The CCP’s unlawful activities will NOT intimidate me from voicing Taiwan’s interests in the international community,” she said in a social media post.
The new details of the plan against Hsiao were revealed by Czech public radio service,Irozhlas, on Thursday.
Petr Bartovský, the director of the Czech military intelligence service, told Irozhlas that the driver stopped by police was only following Hsiao, but that the service had also identified plans, run out of the Chinese embassy, to “demonstratively confront Ms Hsiao”.
Jan Pejšek, a spokesperson for the service, said the plan involved 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”. The Czech reporting team said this was understood to be a collision with Hsiao’s car.
Pejšek said the other activity of the Chinese actors went “to the point of endangering” Hsiao. “These activities, which flagrantly breach the obligations arising from the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations, were conducted, amongst others, by individuals holding diplomatic posts at the Chinese embassy in Prague,” Pejšek said.
Taiwan’s China-focused mainland affairs council on Friday condemned the Chinese actions, which it said “seriously threatened the personal safety of vice-president Hsiao and her entourage”. It demanded an explanation and public apology.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, said Chinese diplomats “always observe the laws and regulations of host countries”, and that the Czech government had “grossly interfered in China’s internal affairs” by allowing Hsiao to visit, calling her a “diehard Taiwan independence separatist” – a designation for whichChina has threatened the death penalty.
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“China urges the relevant party to avoid being incited or used by ‘Taiwan independence’ forces, and refrain from creating troubles, spreading rumours, and disrupting and undermining the bilateral relations.”
The Czech foreign ministry said it had summoned the Chinese ambassador over the incident at the time but did not comment further on Friday.
Beijing intends to annex Taiwan under a claim that it is a Chinese province currently run by separatists, andvociferously objects to other governmentsacting in any way which lends legitimacy to Taiwan’s democratically elected government.