Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim is in Italy to attend an international conference on freedom and democracy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed, according to Focus Taiwan.

Senior Taiwanese officials rarely travel to Europe, where governments maintain no formal diplomatic ties with Taipei and Beijing routinely lobbies against visits by figures from the island's leadership. Hsiao's trip was not announced in advance and was made public only once she had arrived.

The ministry said the organisers had invited Hsiao to the Second Ventotene European Conference for Freedom and Democracy, held on the Italian island of Ventotene from September 10 to 12. She was accompanied by Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung.

The Presidential Office will release further details once Hsiao returns to Taiwan, the ministry said in a statement. It did not disclose when she left the island or when she is due back.

Confirmation followed an announcement by European Parliament Vice President Pina Picierno, the main initiator of the conference, who said during the event that Hsiao had reached Italy despite an attempt by Beijing to stop the trip.

"No one can dictate who may be hosted on European soil, which voices may be heard, or which presences must be kept hidden," Picierno said in an Italian-language social media post.

"That is why today we welcomed the Vice President of Taiwan, Hsiao Bi-khim, to Ventotene -- her presence was kept confidential until her arrival to safeguard her participation in the Second European Ventotene Conference for Freedom and Democracy," she wrote.

The visit is Hsiao's second to Europe since she took office in May 2024. She travelled to Brussels in November 2025 to address a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China.