Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe.
Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday.
In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese delegation, the report said.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
These attempts took place during Hsiao’s first overseas trip after she and then President-elect Lai Ching-te (賴清德) won the presidential election but before they were sworn in.
During the visit, Hsiao met and took photos with Czech Senate President Miloš Vystrčil, a meeting said to have angered China.
Local intelligence agents were prepared to intervene if necessary, according to Czech Radio, adding that Hsiao was never in immediate danger.
Jan Pejšek, spokesperson for the Czech Military Intelligence Service, described the Chinese officials’ actions as “bordering on endangering her, gathering information about her schedule, and attempting to document her meetings with prominent figures from the Czech political and public spheres,” according to Czech Radio.
The Chinese embassy “flagrantly violated obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” he added.
The agency said such a provocative attempt was “unprecedented” by China in Europe and the matter was reported to the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
However, Mariana Wernerova, spokesperson for the Czech Foreign Ministry, told Czech Radio the ministry “cannot comment on the details of this or other similarly sensitive cases,” though they have communicated with the Chinese side on the matter.
The Chinese embassy did not respond to questions submitted by the press.
In response to the report, Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said at a press conference in Taipei on Thursday that Taiwan’s security agencies had full knowledge of the intelligence at the time. She also expressed gratitude to the Czech Republic for its strong support and the professional protection provided during Hsiao’s visit.
Kuo added that Taiwan strongly condemns China’s unlawful actions, which violate international norms and pose serious risks to the international community.
CROSS-STRAIT COLLABORATION: The new KMT chairwoman expressed interest in meeting the Chinese president from the start, but she’ll have to pay to get in Beijing allegedly agreed to let Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) around the Lunar New Year holiday next year on three conditions, including that the KMT block Taiwan’s arms purchases, a source said yesterday. Cheng has expressed interest in meeting Xi since she won the KMT’s chairmanship election in October. A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a consensus on a meeting was allegedly reached after two KMT vice chairmen visited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in China last month. Beijing allegedly gave the KMT three conditions it had to
STAYING ALERT: China this week deployed its largest maritime show of force to date in the region, prompting concern in Taipei and Tokyo, which Beijing has brushed off Deterring conflict over Taiwan is a priority, the White House said in its National Security Strategy published yesterday, which also called on Japan and South Korea to increase their defense spending to help protect the first island chain. Taiwan is strategically positioned between Northeast and Southeast Asia, and provides direct access to the second island chain, with one-third of global shipping passing through the South China Sea, the report said. Given the implications for the US economy, along with Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductors, “deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” it said. However, the strategy also reiterated
‘BALANCE OF POWER’: Hegseth said that the US did not want to ‘strangle’ China, but to ensure that none of Washington’s allies would be vulnerable to military aggression Washington has no intention of changing the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Saturday, adding that one of the US military’s main priorities is to deter China “through strength, not through confrontation.” Speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, Hegseth outlined the US Department of Defense’s priorities under US President Donald Trump. “First, defending the US homeland and our hemisphere. Second, deterring China through strength, not confrontation. Third, increased burden sharing for us, allies and partners. And fourth, supercharging the US defense industrial base,” he said. US-China relations under
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
RSS