Taiwan is quietly building political support in northern Italy, a win for Taipei's effort to break out of diplomatic isolation.

• Taiwan's Milan office hosted a National Day reception with Italian Senate Deputy Speaker Gian Marco Centinaio and about a hundred regional politicians, business figures, and academics.
• Centinaio, on his fifth trip to Taiwan and leading ten cross-party lawmakers, called Taiwan both a key player in the global economy and a model democracy.
• Taiwan is pitching shared democratic values as the basis for deeper cooperation in culture, technology, and building supply chains that can withstand shocks.
• Lombardy's regional assembly passed a pro-Taiwan motion and set up a cross-party friendship group after its members visited Taipei.
• Taiwan again blamed China's reading of UN Resolution 2758 for keeping it locked out of the United Nations and its agencies.

Outlook: Expect more regional-level Italian delegations and trade missions to Taiwan, with Beijing likely to protest each one.