Taiwan's Premier Cho Jung-tai has voiced strong support for Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim's trip to Italy, stressing that it is Taiwan's own right for its leaders to engage with the international community and that no other country may interfere — bad news for Beijing, good news for Taiwan's diplomatic space.

• Hsiao was invited to attend the Forum for Freedom and Democracy in Europe, held on the Italian island of Ventotene, which was used to detain political prisoners during the Second World War — an echo of Taiwan's own martial law era.
• China has made its displeasure with the trip clear, but the organisers took the view that Taiwan has its own leaders and its own government. Cho said no obstacle can stop Taiwan's determination to keep going out into the world.
• On China's new entry and exit regulations, Cho said bluntly that these were China's internal affairs and carried no jurisdiction over Taiwan.
• He also pointed to the responsibility of first island chain countries for peace in the Indo-Pacific, noting that Chinese Communist Party aircraft and vessels continue to hold exercises across the region's waters, and that Taiwan's technology industry is key to cooperation among democratic allies.
• On domestic matters, he said this year's NT$10,000 universal AI dividend payment would not require borrowing and would not squeeze next year's budget, though the central government's general budget remains stuck in the Legislative Yuan a month after its third reading.

Outlook: Taiwan is expected to keep pursuing senior-level overseas visits and exposure at international forums, while Beijing's countermeasures and the budget deadlock in the Legislative Yuan are the main things to watch next.