Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu is due to travel to Europe next week, in a previously announced visit that could see him in Brussels and Prague, among other destinations.

The sources said that in Prague, Wu will attend a security conference scheduled for June 14, when he could speak immediately after Czech President Petr Pavel opens the event. European leaders don't usually share the stage with Taiwan's top officials, so Wu's speech will be a diplomatic breakthrough, one insider said. Neither Beijing, nor Taipei, nor Pavel's office has yet commented on the matter.

The news of Wu's impending visit to Europe comes after French President Emmanuel Macron warned that Europe must not get drawn into the confrontation between the United States and China via Taiwan.

Tensions between Beijing and Washington escalated again after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in April, and China launched massive three-day military exercises near the island, in what he called a "warning" to Taipei and foreign powers.