Tuesday (June 9) that he would be visiting Taiwan, Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil said that pressure from China only motivated him to visit the country more.
In defiance of warnings from China, Vystrcil stated that he would lead a delegation to Taiwan at the end of August. He said that China's repeated pressure and the Czech revolutionary tradition of striving for freedom and democracy had strengthened his determination to visit the island country.
At a press conference in the Czech Senate, Vystrcil said China's repeated threats against his predecessor, Jaroslav Kubera, who had also planned to visit Taiwan before his sudden death, only strengthen his resolve, reported Czech News Agency. Vystrcil said that the priority needs to be the values and principles the Czech Republic was founded on: "We will either stick to our principles and our values or we will count coins. I am inclined to stop counting coins because one day we might find out that we don't have any at all."
Vystrcil described the country's senate as the only remaining institution that defends Czech sovereignty, originality, and self-confidence against China. "We have to reckon with the fact that we will not be praised by all for that," alluding to the negative attitude taken by President Milos Zeman and government officials toward his Taiwan trip.
Referring to Chinese pressure not to carry out the trip, Vystrcil said, "The People's Republic of China is convinced that it has the right to tell us what to do and how to do it." He said that China considers the Czech Republic to be a gateway to Europe, not an equal partner.
Vystrcil said there are two main reasons for the trip to Taiwan. First, he believes it will benefit his country's "economic, scientific and cultural development, as well as uphold the rules by which democratic countries behave to each other," reported Radio Prague International. Second, he said that it is a matter of "internal importance" to the Czech nation, as he found the debate over the trip has renewed "the clash regarding the center point upon which we place our values, those values we fought for and won in 1989."
When Vystrcil and his delegation tour Taiwan from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5, he will be the highest-ranking Czech official to have ever made an official visit to the country.
In defiance of warnings from China, Vystrcil stated that he would lead a delegation to Taiwan at the end of August. He said that China's repeated pressure and the Czech revolutionary tradition of striving for freedom and democracy had strengthened his determination to visit the island country.
At a press conference in the Czech Senate, Vystrcil said China's repeated threats against his predecessor, Jaroslav Kubera, who had also planned to visit Taiwan before his sudden death, only strengthen his resolve, reported Czech News Agency. Vystrcil said that the priority needs to be the values and principles the Czech Republic was founded on: "We will either stick to our principles and our values or we will count coins. I am inclined to stop counting coins because one day we might find out that we don't have any at all."
Vystrcil described the country's senate as the only remaining institution that defends Czech sovereignty, originality, and self-confidence against China. "We have to reckon with the fact that we will not be praised by all for that," alluding to the negative attitude taken by President Milos Zeman and government officials toward his Taiwan trip.
Referring to Chinese pressure not to carry out the trip, Vystrcil said, "The People's Republic of China is convinced that it has the right to tell us what to do and how to do it." He said that China considers the Czech Republic to be a gateway to Europe, not an equal partner.
Vystrcil said there are two main reasons for the trip to Taiwan. First, he believes it will benefit his country's "economic, scientific and cultural development, as well as uphold the rules by which democratic countries behave to each other," reported Radio Prague International. Second, he said that it is a matter of "internal importance" to the Czech nation, as he found the debate over the trip has renewed "the clash regarding the center point upon which we place our values, those values we fought for and won in 1989."
When Vystrcil and his delegation tour Taiwan from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5, he will be the highest-ranking Czech official to have ever made an official visit to the country.
