European official hails ‘role model’ Hsiao during visit

European Parliament Vice President Pina Picierno on Saturday praised Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) as a role model for freedom-loving women around the world and said she would soon begin planning a trip to Taipei after accepting Hsiao’s invitation to visit.

Hsiao visited Italy to attend the Second Ventotene European Conference for Freedom and Democracy on the Italian island of Ventotene at the invitation of event organizers, despite strong protests from Beijing.

In an interview with the Central News Agency on the sidelines of the event on Saturday, Picierno, the conference’s main initiator, described Hsiao as a role model.

European Parliament Vice President Pina Picierno speaks with the Central News Agency in Ventotene, Italy, on Saturday.

Photo: CNA

“I believe the world needs the courage of women; and throughout history, many women have changed the course of history through their determination,” Picierno said.

“As authoritarian regimes threaten our democracies, we have an even greater need for courageous women like Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim,” she added.

Hsiao fights for human rights and women’s rights, and is a “staunch pro-democracy activist who inspires freedom-loving women across the world,” Picierno said.

“We must recognize this and send a clear message: Women who cherish freedom and democracy are determined to stand united,” she said.

It is rare for Taiwan’s senior leaders, including the president or vice president, to visit countries with which Taipei does not have official diplomatic ties.

The trip was Hsiao’s second visit to a European country that recognizes Beijing instead of Taipei since she took office in May 2024. Her first visit was in November last year to Brussels to address a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China.

The Italy trip once again infuriated the Chinese government, prompting Beijing to lodge protests with Italy and the EU.

Asked if she was concerned about her personal safety from China, Picierno said she had already been under the protection of Italian security details for more than a year due to threats against her from Russia and other authoritarian regimes.

“I do not fear threats from autocratic regimes; I will face them unwaveringly, because I know that every generation has its own battles to fight,” Picierno said.

Picierno said the history of the EU was made possible “by courageous and wise statesmen-predecessors who paid a price for it.”

“Defending democracy is not always easy or a given, nor is it something one can do while keeping one’s hands clean; it always requires courage and determination,” she said. “The clear message we are sending from Ventotene is that we do not fear threats or intimidation; the European Parliament’s agenda is determined neither in Moscow nor in Beijing.”

Picierno said she believes there is absolutely “no room for compromise with authoritarian regimes that violate human rights.”

As authoritarian regimes such as Russia, China and North Korea have aligned, freedom-loving people around the globe must unite to “champion the language of freedom and democracy,” she said.

Picierno announced on Friday that she had accepted Hsiao’s invitation to visit Taiwan in the near future.

She said on Saturday that planning for the visit would begin in the coming weeks.

“Our collaboration — between myself and the vice president of Taiwan — is just beginning; there is much to be done and much to be discussed in the future,” she added.