Czech tycoon Karel Komarek has reached out to piano manufacturer Petrof through the Komarek Family Foundation to purchase 5.3 million korunas (US$234,814) of pianos after a Chinese client canceled an order in protest at Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil’s visit to Taiwan last week.
The customer in Beijing said that it canceled the order because Vystrcil’s visit to Taiwan was harmful to China-Czech relations, Petrof president Zuzana Ceralova Petrofova said.
Petrof, established in 1864, sells about 35 percent of its pianos to China, and is concerned that worsening ties between the Czech Republic and China might affect its sales.
Photo: Screen grab from Karel Komarek Family Foundation Web site
The company expressed its appreciation to Komarek, and Petrofova said that she was surprised by Komarek’s eagerness to step in and complete the unplanned purchase.
Czech media reported that Komarek decided to purchase the pianos to show support for Petrof and Vystrcil’s Taiwan visit, which had deep significance.
“The Czech Republic is a free country. This is what I value most, and I simply want to remind my fellow Czechs of this,” Komarek said.
Komarek said that he and his wife, Stepanka Komarkova, would be donating the pianos to schools in the Czech Republic, hoping that the instruments would be symbols of Czech pride and solidarity.
Forbes magazine has said that Komarek, 51, the third-richest man in the Czech Republic, is worth US$3.8 billion.
Komarek made his fortune in the oil and natural gas business in 1990, and founded his investment group, KKCG, in 2010.
KKCG has investments in the entertainment industry, information technology, real estate and biomedicine.
The 89-person delegation from the Czech Republic, led by Vystrcil, concluded its six-day visit to Taiwan on Friday last week.
Representatives of the Czech political, business, scientific and cultural sectors signed three memorandums of understanding to enhance cooperation, resulting in Taiwanese banks being allowed to open branches in the European nation and China Airlines gaining approval to operate direct flights.
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
NEGOTIATIONS: Taiwan has good relations with Washington and the outlook for the negotiations looks promising, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo said Taiwan’s GDP growth this year is expected to decrease by 0.43 to 1.61 percentage points due to the effects of US tariffs, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei yesterday, citing a preliminary estimate by a private research institution. Taiwan’s economy would be significantly affected by the 32 percent “reciprocal” tariffs slapped by the US, which took effect yesterday, Liu said, adding that GDP growth could fall below 3 percent and potentially even dip below 2 percent to 1.53 percent this year. The council has commissioned another institution
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
NEGOTIATIONS: The US response to the countermeasures and plans Taiwan presented has been positive, including boosting procurement and investment, the president said Taiwan is included in the first group for trade negotiations with the US, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he seeks to shield Taiwanese exporters from a 32 percent tariff. In Washington, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview on Fox News on Thursday that he would speak to his Taiwanese and Israeli counterparts yesterday about tariffs after holding a long discussion with the Vietnamese earlier. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of US dollars were wiped off global markets. He has maintained a 10 percent
RSS