‘I’m Taiwanese’ and China’s problem with the EU

Leading a delegation of Czech businessmen and politicians to visit a democratic island off China on August 30, Mr. Vystrcil said, “I am Taiwanese,” echoing the famous words of the US President. JK Kennedy “I am Berlin” to show solidarity with Berlin besieged by the Soviets at the beginning of the Cold War.

This week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in Berlin on a European tour to repair relations with the EU, condemning Vystrcil.

Not only openly threatening Czech politicians as “myopic”, and the Czech government’s boldness to oppose the “One China” policy, Wang Yi also generally said that Beijing “would not tolerate action.” provocative “like this.

However, commentators believe that the timing of two visits, one by the Czech delegation to Taiwan and the other by Wang Yi to Europe, is not the best time for China.

Journalist David Hutt wrote in the Asia Times (September 1, 2020) that it is unclear whether China can do something Vystricl or not, but what to do will only make China’s position in the EU “weak”.

David Hutt also recalled that last week, the Minister of Health of the United States, Alex Azar, visited Taiwan and, two weeks earlier, the Secretary of State of the United States, Mike Pompeo, visited the Czech Republic.

Here we can see two emerging problems that affect relations with China.

The first is that in the Czech Republic and in former Eastern European countries such as Poland, there is a resurgence of the spirit of democracy, formed in the tradition of fighting the Soviet Union during the Cold War and triumphed 30 years ago. .

Mr. Vytrcil himself said that he followed the tradition of activist Vaclav Havel and came to Taiwan because it was “a democracy.”

Born in 1960, he belongs to the Partido Cívico Democrático (Civic Democratic Party), Mr. Vytrcil followed the center-right line, a bit critical of the EU.

Not only did he wear a mask with the Taiwanese flag, he also recalled that dissident Havel, later Democratic president, was a friend of the Dalai Lama, despite Chinese protests.

Vytrcil’s party is not subject to the Czech government’s policy towards China, but in general, Czech parties are proud of their antitrust tradition, due to their democracy, marked by protest events. to the Soviet Union in 1968 and 1989-90.

China cannot “punish” a political trend in these Eastern European countries with these dynamic economies and strong democracies.

What China can do and is doing to promote the “Belt and Road” in Eastern Europe is to be friendly with Hungary and to trust the increasingly dissociated EU policy of Prime Minister Victor Orban.

Last week, the Orban government announced that Fudan University, Shanghai, has opened a campus and dormitory in Budapest in a move praised by President Xi Jinping.

In the EU as a whole, China faces a group of politicians who no longer live with the inspiration of a new and attractive China.

Not only the reason for translating Covid-19, the repression of the people of Xinjiang and Hong Kong, but also the more fundamental cause of geopolitics and the leadership of Xi Jinping’s “imperial formation” frightened the EU leaders. .

Over the weekend, before welcoming Foreign Minister Vuong Nghi, EU head of diplomacy Josep Borrell published an editorial in a European newspaper saying that Russia, Turkey and China “share an authoritarian personality. ” using the language of power “in international relations.

Despite seeing the advantages in trade with China, the EU will not be able to ignore relations with the United States in China’s view today.

As for the Czech Republic, although the current government did not support the Senate President’s visit to Taiwan, it immediately summoned the Chinese ambassadors to protest the threat it poses to Mr. Vytricl.

This is not the first time that the Czechs themselves, despite their differing views, are willing to speak up to protect their own people and especially companies.

China once threatened to punish the Skoda automobile group in retaliation for the plan of the former president of the Czech Senate to visit Taiwan, Jaroslav Kubera.

The trip was unsuccessful because Mr. Kubera died, but Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis asked China to replace its ambassador after a threat to the Skoda car company.

According to the latest news, a district leader in the Czech Republic spoke only to Vuong Nghi himself about his threats against Senate President Vytrcil.

Pavel Novotny, president of the Reporyje district, Prague, posted on Facebook a request for Wang Yi to immediately apologize for daring to “threaten our country.”