On Saturday, the Chinese embassy in Prague called Senate President Milos Vystrcil (ODS) ‘s trip to Taiwan a gross violation of China’ s national sovereignty and serious interference in China ‘s internal affairs. The embassy stated this in a statement sent to ČTK. The embassy called on the Czechia to adhere to the principle of one China. The Senate delegation returned from a visit to Taiwan in the morning.
“The President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, Miloš Vystrčil, insisted on a visit to the Chinese region of Taiwan, despite the disapproval of the Chinese and Czech governments in his own political interest. This is a gross violation of China’s national sovereignty, Czech relations and serious violations of basic norms of international relations. China strongly condemns such behavior and expresses strong disagreement, “the embassy said in a statement.
She stressed that Taiwan is an integral part of China. “China calls on the Czech side to take note of China’s serious position, adhere to its political commitment to recognize the one-China principle, take concrete measures to address the adverse effects of the incident and take concrete steps to maintain the stable development of Sino-Czech relations,” the embassy said.
He pushed out during earlier Chinese criticism, refusing to violate one China’s policy. According to him, the Czechia has negotiated with China that it has the right to its own policy of one China. “I am convinced that the visit of the second highest official to Taiwan does not violate the policy of one China as the (defined) Czech Republic has it,” he remarked at the time.
Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček (CSSD) said in a week that the Czechia and China should focus on substantive cooperation. He believes that Vystrčil’s journey will not affect relations between the two countries. The Minister also emphasized that Czech foreign policy in relation to China had not changed in any way through Vystrčil’s path.
“Our foreign policy is the responsibility of the government. The government, like previous governments, has a clearly defined policy towards China. We also reserve the right to cooperate with Taiwan in specific areas and we adhere to these principles,” he said.
The trip of the senate delegation led by Vystrčil attracted a lot of attention. In addition to China, senior Czech politicians also opposed it, including Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) and President Miloš Zeman. It was the pressure of the Chinese embassy in Prague, not only in this matter, that Vystrčil described as one of the reasons why he decided to visit Taiwan.
