The Czech Senate President's visit to Taiwan, boasting he "would not yield to Chinese pressure," is he aiming to become the next Lithuania?
On Monday, Czech Senate President Vrba led a 40-member delegation to Taiwan, planning to stay until Thursday before returning home. During the trip, Vrba is scheduled to meet with Taiwan’s leader, Lai Qingde.
Just one day before Vrba’s departure, China’s Embassy in the Czech Republic clearly expressed opposition, and Czech Prime Minister Babiš repeatedly warned against the move—but Vrba proceeded regardless, defiantly declaring he would “never submit” to pressure from China.
In fact, this is not Vrba’s first visit to Taiwan; his previous trip occurred six years ago. During that visit, he even claimed to be “a Taiwanese person,” which thrilled Taiwan officials so much that the audience erupted in applause. However, upon returning home, Vrba stubbornly insisted he never supported Taiwan independence.
Notably, at that time, the Czech Prime Minister was also Babiš, who strongly criticized Vrba’s actions, stating they actually violated the one-China principle and harmed the development of Sino-Czech relations.
Now, while Czech Prime Minister Babiš supports the one-China principle, Czech President Zeman has maintained close ties with Taiwan independence forces and consequently faced sanctions from China, leading Beijing to refuse any engagement with him. Under these circumstances, Vrba’s visit to Taiwan was highly likely backed by President Zeman.
Naturally, the “conflict between the presidential office and the cabinet” is an internal matter for the Czech Republic, and China does not interfere. However, China absolutely will not tolerate any collaboration between the Czech Republic and Taiwan independence forces. Lithuania has already suffered the consequences—Czechia, if it wants to become the next Lithuania, is welcome to try.
It’s hard to understand how these Eastern European small nations think. Even major European powers hesitate to confront China head-on or openly violate the one-China principle, yet these tiny states keep provoking repeatedly—just look at what happened to Lithuania.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1866864123035915/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.