Taiwan has right to make friends despite Chinese pressure: VP Hsiao

Ventotene, Italy, Sept. 11 (CNA) Taiwan has the same right as others to make friends and work with like-minded partners despite Beijing's efforts to restrict its international presence, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said on Friday.

"We believe strongly that like every citizen in the world, we have the right to make friends. We have the right to talk to our friends," Hsiao said at the Second Ventotene European Conference for Freedom and Democracy on the Italian island of Ventotene.

Taiwan also has the right to work with like-minded partners on solutions to common challenges, she said, adding that it cherishes every opportunity to make its voice heard internationally.

Hsiao attended the conference on Friday as a guest of honor, accompanied by Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Her participation was not announced until after she arrived in Italy, to prevent interference from Beijing.

The trip is Hsiao's second to Europe since taking office in May 2024, following a November 2025 visit to Brussels to address a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China.

European Parliament Vice President Pina Picierno, the main initiator of the conference, said Hsiao's presence had been kept confidential to safeguard her participation.

Picierno also said the European Parliament's agenda, particularly her own, would not be determined by Beijing.

"Free peoples speak the same language. Free peoples recognize one another," she said in Italian.

Picierno also accepted Hsiao's invitation to visit Taiwan, saying the trip would be arranged in the coming weeks and months.

Several Italian politicians also criticized Beijing's formal protest over Hsiao's visit.

Italian Senate Vice President Gian Marco Centinaio said hosting Taiwanese officials was an honor and described China's protest as unacceptable.

Fabrizio Benzoni, deputy leader of the Action party's group in the Chamber of Deputies, said neither Italy nor the European Union should accept vetoes or intimidation from Beijing.

Tiziana Nisini, a lawmaker from Italy's League party, said democratically elected leaders had the right to travel and engage internationally.

In a written response to CNA, European Parliament lawmaker Engin Eroglu said Hsiao's visit reflected Europe's growing recognition of Taiwan as a partner, adding that increased high-level exchanges in recent years had become institutionalized to some extent.

During the conference, Hsiao described Ukraine's situation as a warning that Taiwan must do more to preserve peace by strengthening its defenses, securing its role in global technology supply chains, and deepening international partnerships.

Taiwan would neither provoke China nor yield to coercion and would not change its democratic way of life, she said.

Referring to Beijing's protest, Hsiao said China had long sought to constrain Taiwan's international space and had personally targeted and sanctioned her, but this would not stop Taiwan from engaging with the world.

Hsiao recalled her nickname "cat warrior," saying cats may appear small but can jump several times their height and survive difficult circumstances.

"We in Taiwan believe we are small, but we're also mighty," she said.