China tried to pressure Rome hotel to cancel Taiwan’s National Day event: Envoy

Taiwan's envoy to Italy, Vincent Y.C. Tsai, said on Thursday that China tried to pressure a hotel in Rome to cancel a National Day reception held by Taiwan’s representative office, but the event went ahead at the Hotel Parco Dei Principi after a day of pushback.At a seminar in Rome on Thursday, Tsai recounted the sequence of events, saying he was told that a delegation led by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was set to stay at the same hotel which Taiwan's representative office had booked earlier this year to host a reception on Wednesday to celebrate the Republic of China’s (Taiwan’s official name) 114th National Day.He said Chinese officials pressed the hotel to cancel the reception when the Chinese delegation was visiting Rome from Wednesday to Thursday, but the hotel ultimately sided with Taiwan and refused the request, prompting the delegation to switch to another hotel.