Beijing has condemned a visit to Italy by senior Taiwanese official Hsiao Bi-khim, who attended an international forum, and lodged diplomatic protests with Rome and Brussels. According to Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning, Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party authorities are seeking attention and pursuing independence under the guise of democracy. Beijing opposes any official interaction between Taiwan and nations that maintain formal diplomatic ties with China, citing the one-China principle as a widely recognized norm in international relations. The protests were lodged following reports of Hsiao Bi-khim's visit to Italy, which has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-11,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Beijing has lodged diplomatic protests with Italy and the European Union after Hsiao Bi-khim, the second-highest ranking official in Taiwan, visited Italy to attend an international forum. This move is seen as a violation of China's "one-China principle", which states that only one government represents China, including Taiwan. Beijing considers such visits to be attempts by Taiwan to pursue independence under the guise of democracy and freedom. Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, described the visit as "despicable" and "futile". Italy has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but Hsiao Bi-khim**'s attendance was kept confidential by the European Parliament to ensure her participation. Beijing's protests come as part of its efforts to maintain its stance on Taiwan's status.
Written for “Cross Strait Diplomatic Tensions” on 2026-09-12,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it +0.85, but all 2 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
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Leaning score withheld for article 7686: attributed speech only · logged 2026-09-11
Beijing lodges diplomatic protests over Taiwan official’s visit to Italy
European Parliament official says conference attendance by Hsiao Bi-khim was kept confidential to safeguard her participation
Beijing has strongly condemned a visit to Italy by senior Taiwanese officials and lodged formal diplomatic protests with both Rome and Brussels.
asserted
Beijing → lodge → Rome
Criticising the visit on Friday, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Beijing had submitted “serious representations against Italy and the European Union” following reports that Taiwan’s No 2 official, Hsiao Bi-khim, had arrived in Italy to attend an international forum.
asserted
official → criticise → forum
“[Taiwan’s] Democratic Progressive Party authorities and individual politicians have spared no effort to seek attention everywhere, attempting to pursue independence under the guise of democracy and freedom,” Mao said.
asserted
Mao → seek → democracy
Italy, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
asserted
Italy → have → Taiwan
Mao said Beijing firmly opposed any official interaction between Taiwan and nations that maintained formal diplomatic ties with Beijing.
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that → say → Beijing
Beijing says such visits violate the one-China principle.
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visits → say → principle
She said the one-China principle was a widely recognised norm in international relations and the fundamental political foundation for Beijing’s relations with both Italy and the EU, calling on relevant parties to observe it through concrete action.
asserted
principle → say → action
