Czech Senate Speaker Milos Vystrcil met Taiwanese Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu yesterday, at the beginning of his visit to Taiwan. In response to a statement from the Chinese embassy in Prague accusing him of interfering in China’s internal affairs, Vystrcil said that China cannot tell the Czech Republic who to be friends with, according to the Taiwanese news agency CNA.
Vystrcil (ODS) also said he had invited Han Kuo-yu to visit the Czech Republic.
At a press conference, Vystrcil said both Taiwan and the Czech Republic were free and democratic countries that do not take orders from other countries. “We decide who we want to be friends with and who we don’t,” he said.
The trip is Vystrcil’s second to Taiwan, which he first visited in August 2020. The visit is going ahead despite the refusal of the Czech government to provide a government plane. China has condemned the visit to Taiwan, claiming that Vystrcil has seriously interfered in its internal affairs.
Vystrcil and his delegation flew to Taiwan on a direct commercial flight. They arrived on Sunday after 11am CEST at Taoyuan International Airport, located west of the capital city of Taipei. Vystrcil was welcomed by Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu. He is accompanied by a delegation of representatives of Czech businesses and universities.
The four-day visit includes meetings with representatives of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the main opposition Nationalist Party (KMT), President Lai Ching-te, Vice-President Hsiao Bi-khim, senior government officials, and representatives from the business, academic and cultural sectors.
Beijing condemned the trip, stating that Vystrcil had “seriously interfered in China’s internal affairs, undermined China’s state sovereignty and territorial integrity, violated basic norms of international relations and breached the Czech Republic’s political commitment to the One-China principle.” Beijing considers Taiwan a rebel province, and has stated on several occasions in the past that it intends to reunify with the island, even if it means using force.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) openly criticised Vystrcil’s trip, which he argued would damage trade ties and relations with China. Before departing for Taiwan, Vystrcil objected to Babis’s claim that Czech companies had to leave the Chinese market due to his previous trip to Taiwan. For example, he said, Skoda had seen falling sales in China beginning years before the first trip, and other companies were losing technology in China without anyone asking them for a licence.
Vystrcil said his trip was “both principled and pragmatic”, and that it would bring benefits and prestige to the Czech Republic.
In Taipei yesterday, he said the Czech Republic follows its own One-China policy, not China’s One-China principle. He said there is nothing wrong with exchanges of views between the Czech Senate and the Taiwanese legislature, as parliamentary diplomacy is an important part of Czech foreign policy.
The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post newspaper reported yesterday that Prague and Taipei have deepened their cooperation in the semiconductor sector in recent years, and also noted the May visit of Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung to Prague.
However, Prague’s official rhetoric has cooled significantly since Andrej Babis returned to power in December, the paper writes, adding that Babis’s government is seeking more pragmatic relations with Beijing and is deliberately distancing itself from the close ties with Taipei promoted by previous governments.
