The bureau of Liberal International unequivocally condemns the Chinese Communist Party’s aggressive interference in the official visit of Taiwan Vice President Bi-khim Hsiao to Prague in March 2024 – an act exposed by Czech military intelligence as a targeted campaign of surveillance and attempted political intimidation of the Taiwanese Vice President.

According to Czech authorities, Chinese agents planned a staged car crash and monitored Vice President Hsiao’s diplomatic engagements, including meetings with top Czech officials. This was not only a violation of international law and the Vienna Convention, but a direct assault on Taiwan’s democratic legitimacy and a shameful display of authoritarian overreach on European soil.

Vice President Hsiao, formerly Vice President of Liberal International and Chairperson of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD), was representing a freely elected government in a peaceful diplomatic context. For Beijing to respond with covert threats is a stark reminder of the CCP’s expanding campaign to silence democratic voices abroad.

The LI bureau calls on liberal democracies to unequivocally condemn and make efforts  against this pattern of transnational repression. We stand in full solidarity with Vice President Hsiao and reaffirm our unwavering support for Taiwan’s democracy and its right to engage the world without fear of authoritarian coercion.

Picture courtesy: Official Photo by Wang Yu Ching / Office of the President