The Czech intelligence service's complaint against agents of the People's Republic of China, which denies the charges and speaks of “interference in internal affairs”. Meanwhile, today is the deadline for Chinese immigrants in Taiwan to prove that they have renounced their registration in the People's Republic. 2,237 have not yet done so, but authorities promise to ascertain their intentions before revoking benefits for residents.

Taipei (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim has said she will not be intimidated by China after Czech military intelligence reported that Chinese diplomats and secret service agents followed her and planned to physically intimidate her during a visit to Prague in March 2024.

Prague does not have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but has developed warm ties with the island, which China considers part of its territory, despite Taiwan's rejection.

The Czech public radio news site, irozhlas.cz, reported in recent days that Chinese agents had planned to stage a demonstrative car accident. Hsiao thanked parliamentarians around the world who expressed solidarity against ‘violence and coercion.’

‘Taiwan will not be isolated by intimidation,’ she wrote on her X profile. Czech military intelligence spokesman Jan Pejsek told Reuters that Chinese diplomats in Prague had engaged in behaviour that violated diplomatic norms, including ‘attempts to document her meetings with important representatives of the Czech political and public scene.’

A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, commenting on the matter, denied any wrongdoing on the part of Chinese diplomats and said that the Czech Republic had interfered in Chinese internal affairs by allowing Hsiao's visit.

The vice-president, who was Taipei's representative to the United States from 2020 to 2023 and was directly targeted by Beijing as a ‘secessionist’ in 2022, took office alongside President Lai Ching-te on 20 May last year. Relations between the Czech Republic and China have cooled in recent years.

The Czechs accused China in May of being responsible for a cyberattack on the Foreign Ministry. Czech politicians have visited Taiwan, and former Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen visited Prague last October.

Meanwhile, today in Taipei, the deadline set in April by the Lai administration for immigrants from mainland China to prove that they have renounced their registration in the People's Republic expires, under penalty of losing their rights of residence on the island.

This is one of the measures taken to defend against Beijing's influence, which the president of Taipei now openly calls “a hostile foreign force”.

According to data released today by Taiwan's National Immigration Agency (NIA), more than 2,237 Chinese residents in Taiwan have not yet provided proof that they have renounced their registration in China.

The agency has promised to use all possible means to contact these people before taking action, including cross-checking with health insurance records or requesting assistance from security services. About 20% have already been located and will receive the necessary forms in person to resolve the situation.