TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Vice President-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) met two presidential candidates during a secret visit to Lithuania, an academic revealed on Facebook Saturday (March 23).
A meeting with Senate President Milos Vystrcil during a visit to the Czech Republic triggered an angry response from China earlier in the week. On her tour of Europe ahead of her May 20 inauguration, Hsiao also scheduled a stop at the seat of the European Union, Brussels in Belgium.
Security expert Marius Laurinavicius said he had attended a working breakfast with the vice president-elect on Friday (March 22). The Lithuanian media did not publish anything about the visit, even though it was the most important news in the Baltic nation’s foreign relations, he said.
Hsiao also delivered a speech about Taiwan’s democratic experience and achievements at the Institute of International Relations and Political Sciences in the capital Vilnius, per CNA. Most of her itinerary in Lithuania was confidential and could not be revealed to the public, according to Laurinavicius.
Even so, he disclosed the breakfast meeting with Hsiao was attended by two presidential candidates, former Constitutional Court judge Dainius Zalimas and former NATO official Giedrimas Jeglinskas, who visited Taiwan last July.
The first round of the election is scheduled for May 12, with a second round expected two weeks later if no candidate obtains an absolute majority during the first round.