Unlawful CCP activities 'will not intimidate me': Vice President Hsiao

Taipei, June 29 (CNA) Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said Saturday that she will not be intimidated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), following reports that Chinese agents planned to ram her car during a 2024 visit to the Czech Republic.

"I had a great visit to Prague & thank the Czech authorities for their hospitality & ensuring my safety," Hsiao said on social media platform X.

"The CCP's unlawful activities will NOT intimidate me from voicing Taiwan's interests in the international community," she wrote.

Hsiao visited the Czech Republic on March 18 last year as vice president-elect and met with Czech Senate leadership, including Czech Senate President Miloš Vystrčil (維特齊), during the three-day trip.

After her visit, reports surfaced that Chinese agents had followed Hsiao and had considered colliding with her vehicle, though the action remained in the planning stage.

The Czech Military Intelligence Service later confirmed it had monitored Chinese intelligence units attempting to carry out operations targeting "protected individuals."

On Saturday (U.S. time), a social media account on X run by U.S. Democratic lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party said that "the CCP's planned attack" on Hsiao is a "clear escalation that highlights the growing threat of the CCP's transnational repression."

The post also cited the incident as a reason to reintroduce the Taiwan Allies Fund Act.

The bill, proposed in April by U.S. Democratic lawmaker Raja Krishnamoorthi, would authorize US$120 million over three years to allow the U.S. executive branch to assist Taiwan's diplomatic allies and unofficial partners facing CCP pressure.

Hsiao, who became Taiwan's vice president in May 2024 after the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won an unprecedented third term, is considered a "separatist" by Beijing.

In August 2022, China placed Hsiao on a public list of 10 "Taiwan independence diehards" on the website of its Taiwan Affairs Office, alongside other DPP officials Beijing seeks to "punish."