The 89-member delegation headed by Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil that visited Taiwan until Friday last week was the largest and highest-level Czech contingent to ever visit Taiwan. The visit not only greatly enhances relations between the two countries, it also — and more importantly — demonstrates the will of Vystrcil and his colleagues to do the right thing and stand firm against the carrot-and-stick tactics of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Before heading to Taiwan, Vystrcil said that the visit reflects the strong belief of late former Czech president Vaclav Havel and late Czechoslovakian minister of foreign affairs Jiri Dienstbier in “defending our democratic principles and sovereignty” and “working together with all democratic countries, regardless of what anyone else wants us to do.”
Taiwan welcomed the esteemed guests warmly.
The European nation’s friendliness is a stark contrast to China’s pressure on the delegation. Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅), who was at the time touring Europe, was so exasperated by the visit that he strongly condemned Vystrcil for challenging Beijing’s “one China” principle, saying that Vystrcil was “an enemy of 1.4 billion Chinese people.”
At a news conference in Germany on Monday last week, Wang stressed that the Chinese government would not tolerate the Czech Senate leader’s “blatant provocation,” and would make him and the anti-China power behind him “pay a heavy price for the shortsighted move and political speculation.”
The Chinese embassy in the Czech Republic also launched a ferocious attack on Vystrcil in a statement on Saturday last week, saying that he insisted on the visit to Taiwan “out of his own political calculation,” disregarded international relations and the political commitments between China and the Czech Republic, ignored Czech mainstream public opinion, and “violated China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Beijing’s rhetoric is not new. Last year, then-Czech Senate president Jaroslav Kubera, when making public plans to visit Taiwan, immediately received threats from China, leading to arrangements being shelved. He died of a heart attack on Jan. 20.
Several Czech commentators at the time said that he was hounded to death by the pressure from China, leading to a widespread public outcry in the country.
On May 20, the Czech Senate passed a resolution supporting an official visit to Taiwan, which eventually enabled Vystrcil, other senior Czech Senate members, Prague Mayor Zdenek Hrib, as well as educational, academic, cultural and business leaders, to embark on the journey.
The more overbearing China’s attitude, the stronger the backlash, and the backlash does not come from the Czech Republic alone.
On Aug. 20, the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with the PRC chairman Reinhard Butikofer penned an official letter to the Chinese Ambassador to the EU Zhang Ming (張明), saying that “EU Member States and Parliamentarians in particular have every right to develop economic, cultural and other relations with Taiwan free of PRC interference.”
The letter also mentioned China’s obstruction of the Czech Senate president’s trip to Taiwan and its continuous pressure to prevent the visit.
On Aug. 25, 70 members of the European Parliament, US Congress, Canadian Parliament, Australian Parliament, UK Parliament, German Bundestag, French Parliament and other parliaments of European nations jointly signed a statement in support of Vystrcil’s trip.
The “Joint international statement condemning the pressure applied by the People’s Republic of China on the Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil in connection to his official visit to Taiwan” shows that the West is unable to hold back its anger over China’s bullying of the Czech Republic.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who visited the Czech Republic on Aug. 12, also expressed concerns over China’s rude obstruction of the exchange between the European nation and Taiwan, and voiced support for the trip.
China bad-mouthed Vystrcil’s trip not just because the Czech Republic is a key European partner for China’s Belt and Road Initiative, but also because Beijing worries that other countries might follow suit, and enhance political and economic relations with Taiwan.
China has followed up on its political threats by vowing to make the Czech Republic pay a price economically.
However, as bilateral economic and trade relations are not particularly strong, it might not be easy for China to find a leverage point for “retaliating” or taking “countermeasures,” and it is possible that the Czech Republic does not care much.
When Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) visited the country in 2016, he reportedly promised to bring US$2 billion in Chinese investments, but it increasingly seems that the money will never be granted, much to the displeasure of the increasingly silent faction of Czech pro-China politicians.
Meanwhile, Taiwan and the Czech Republic share many values, experiences and visions. As President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has pointed out, the Czech Republic has a rich cultural heritage, a prosperous economy and experience in transitioning from an autocratic regime toward democracy.
The Czech Republic and Taiwan — as Vystrcil indicated in his speech at Taipei’s National Chengchi University on Aug. 31 — can help each other enhance competitiveness through mutual visits of entrepreneurs and cooperation in disease prevention technology.
In a mutually beneficial partnership between two free and democratic nations, the Czech Republic could be Taiwan’s door to Europe, just as Taiwan could be the Czech Republic’s entry gate to Asia.
On Monday last week, representatives of the two countries signed three memorandums of understanding, marking concrete progress in many fields of cooperation, including smart city and start-up development, artificial intelligence and precision machinery.
However, equally important are the shared values and the nations’ experience in democratization and dealing with Beijing’s pressure.
Havel, who led the former Czechoslovakia’s peaceful revolution in 1989, received former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) in Prague in 1995.
After leaving office, Havel visited Taiwan in 2004 and met with then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who honored him with the Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon, in continuation of a dialogue between the two countries on democratic transition.
Prague’s termination of its sister city agreement with Beijing in October last year demonstrated Hrib’s insistence on principles. The 2016 agreement, signed on the Czech side by Hrib’s predecessor, former Prague mayor Adriana Krnacova, contained a clause affirming Prague’s adherence to Beijing’s “one China” principle.
The clause reads: “The City of Prague confirms its continuous commitment to the One China Policy of the Government of the Czech Republic, and acknowledges that Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory.”
When reviewing partnership agreements, Hrib, in office since November 2018, wanted to remove the clause, because “Prague must have self-confidence and respect human rights.”
Beijing, insisting on the clause, threatened the Czech Republic with a tourism boycott and a ban on art and academic exchanges.
Hrib, who had visited Taiwan as an exchange student, remained unmoved, and China’s threats led to nothing but the establishment of sister-city relations between Prague and Taipei in January.
The Czech Republic was under a communist regime. When a democratic reform movement in the Prague Spring of 1968 was crushed by Soviet tanks, the then-Czechoslovak public remained undeterred in their determination to pursue democracy, leading to the 1989 Velvet Revolution.
Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃) made a succinct point by praising the Czech Republic as a nation that represents opposition to authoritarian power and resistance to suppression.
Taiwan is looking forward to collaboration with the Czech Republic, a country of extraordinary political and economic achievements.
Translated by Chang Ho-ming
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