The United States recently sent 6 congressmen to visit the Taiwan region, which obviously played a wrong leading role, causing many Western countries to start to stir up trouble on Taiwan-related issues, and the Czech Republic is one of them.
According to the website of the US political media "Politician", Czech Foreign MinisterLipovsky not only pointed fingers at Sino-Russian relations in a recent interview, but also openly falsely referred to the Taiwan region as a "country."
Lipawski claimed that the EU should help "bullied democracies" like Taiwan.
Not only that, in order to highlight the "importance" of Taiwan, he also touted the latter's contribution to the Czech Republic, saying that it is one of the largest investors in the Czech Republic and a leader in the global semiconductor field, providing many jobs for the country.
In fact, Lipawski's remarks simply do not hold water. On the contrary, China has become the second largest trading partner of the Czech Republic for many consecutive years, and the two countries have cooperated in finance, aviation and other aspects. According to data released by the Czech Statistical Office, the bilateral trade volume between China and the Czech Republic will reach 38.3 billion US dollars in 2021. This figure is definitely unattainable in Taiwan.
However, the Czech foreign minister ignored this data and openly touted the "Taiwan independence" separatists, which is a serious provocation to the "one-China principle."
Not only that, the US media also quoted a Czech diplomat as saying that after President Zeman retires at the end of this year, the Czech Republic may follow Lithuania's example and rename the original "Economic and Cultural Office in The Czech 'Taipei' to the "Czech 'Taiwan' Economic and Cultural Office". This move is tantamount to openly supporting "Taiwan independence" and challenging the "one-China principle."
It has been learned that the current Czech President Zeman and the current government have diametrically opposed attitudes in handling relations with China. Zeman, who advocates friendly relations with China, once said in an interview that he wanted to make a visit to China before the end of his presidency because he believed that China was the most important world power and that his visit to China would also help Czech exporters.
Although Zeman has always wanted to bring the Czech Republic and China closer, it is a pity that his physical condition has not been ideal.
Zeman had been treated in intensive care for a period of time, and after being discharged from the hospital, he was unfortunately infected with the new crown, and although he is now basically recovering, it is unlikely that he will return to his previous state, and he has missed the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics before.
In fact, the czech domestic political system is extremely complex, and although the president is a head of state directly elected by citizens and has the power to appoint the prime minister and ministers, in practice, the major administrative organs are responsible to the parliament. The Prime Minister, nominated by the majority of the Czech House of Representatives, is the head of the Czech government. Therefore, the Czech president is generally considered to be the so-called "fictitious head of state".
That is to say, although President Zeman has the intention to cooperate with China, the role he can play is very limited.
The new ruling coalition, led by Peter Fiara, the leader of the Czech centre-right opposition, has maintained a pro-Western attitude and has repeatedly hyped up anti-China issues.
In particular, Czech Foreign Minister Lipawski, who is currently interfering in the Taiwan issue, has always been known for his tough stance on China. After taking office, Lipawski claimed to promote so-called "human rights diplomacy" in the future and to re-examine the positions of China and Russia.
Lipawski has also been unhappy with President Zeman's attitude toward China. Last year, after Zeman urged Czech Ambassador tong Fude to show China his full support for the Beijing Winter Olympics, Lipavsky asked Tong Fude not to make a statement on the grounds that it was not in line with the Czech Foreign Ministry's planned adjustment of Sino-Czech relations.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the Czech Foreign Ministry has now indicated that it may follow Lithuania's example and allow the Taiwan authorities to set up so-called "offices" in the name of the Taiwan region. Once the name is changed, it is bound to impact and destroy Sino-Czech relations.
But they should be clear about the serious consequences they would face if such action were taken hastily.
At that time, after Lithuania made a wrong move on the Taiwan issue, the blow suffered can be said to be fatal. The Chinese Foreign Ministry immediately downgraded Lithuania diplomatically, and now the neutral relationship has been reduced to the "chargé d'affaires level". As a result, trade between neutrals began to become difficult, with many lithuanian industries suffering huge losses, and the country's goods were difficult to enter the Chinese market.
As mentioned earlier, China is the second largest trading partner of the Czech Republic. If the Czech Republic had set up the so-called "Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office" in disregard of the overall situation of Sino-Czech relations, it is conceivable what the result would have been. It can be said that China cannot tolerate the recurrence of lithuania-like incidents, and the Czech Republic must also be prepared to bear the cost.
China's determination to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity is unshakable, and any external forces that support "Taiwan independence" separatists will be countered.
On 15 July, the PLA Eastern Theater dispatched military forces such as destroyers, bombers, and fighters to organize multiple services and arms to carry out joint combat readiness patrols around the Taiwan Strait, warning the US Government not to send a wrong signal to the Taiwan authorities. At this juncture, the Czech Republic should clamp its tail even more tightly and resolutely abide by the "one-China principle" without wavering.