The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) Summit in Taipei has gotten underway, but not without some final hitches.
IPAC delegates flew in over the weekend, and met with Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) on Monday, but there was drama in the preceding days as China reportedly tried to dissuade legislators from attending.
Tuesday July 30 will be the main event of the summit, with meetings and discussion between delegates and a press conference to follow. Taiwanese security is expected to be high on the agenda.
Chinese diplomats contacted legislators from several countries, asking them about their travel plans, or directly telling them not to come to Taiwan, the Associated Press reported on Sunday July 28. “Bolivia, Colombia, Slovakia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and one Asian country that declined to be named” were listed as those countries whose delegates were contacted, although of course other nations’ attendees may also have been pressured. The above list doesn’t contain any delegates from the larger economic powers in IPAC, although without more information it’s impossible to know if this common denominator is significant.