Prague and Beijing this week tore up a “sister city” agreement after the Czech capital backed out of a clause on the “one China” policy that denied the independence of Taiwan.
Prague said Beijing demanded it respect the policy on Taiwan as a precondition for lending a panda to Prague Zoo in the agreement signed in 2016 ahead of a visit to the city by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
The panda never arrived.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The Prague City Council on Monday withdrew from the deal, with Prague Mayor Zdenek Hrib saying that China had refused to remove mention of the policy.
The declaration is not appropriate for a pact between cities, as it is a matter of national policy, Hrib said.
“Thirty years after the Velvet Revolution we must remind ourselves that conscience is not for sale,” tweeted Michaela Krausova, head of the Pirate caucus at Prague City Council.
The conflict has been brewing since the upstart Pirate party took over the Prague mayor’s office in November last year and took issue with Beijing’s “one China” policy in regards to the sovereignty of Taiwan and Tibet.
Beijing on Wednesday hit back, with the Chinese embassy in Prague saying that the council’s action was a breach of faith that would hurt relations between China and the Czech Republic.
“The ‘one China’ principle concerns China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and involves China’s core interests. It is the basis and premise for China to carry out all foreign exchanges and cooperation,” the embassy said in a statement on its WeChat account.
Beijing yesterday announced it was quitting the deal, criticizing the Pirates for turning “a blind eye to the norms governing international relations” and repeatedly making “wrong moves and improper comments on issues related to Taiwan and Tibet.”
“Beijing Municipality terminates its sister-city relationship with the City of Prague with immediate effect and suspends all official exchanges,” Beijing City Hall said in a statement posted on the embassy’s Web site.
Czech President Milos Zeman has pushed ties with China, but Prague’s government has figured in diplomatic rows between the two nations.
However, Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Tomas Petricek said threats do not belong in diplomacy.
“I see it as very strong pressure. I told the Chinese ambassador that we should rather concentrate on creating a friendly environment for development of our relations,” he told reporters in Prague on Wednesday.
However, he added that the Czech government respects the “one China” policy regardless of Prague’s position.
Prague has long been a bastion of support for Tibet, with former Czech president Vaclav Havel and other politicians hosting the Dalai Lama.
Hrib’s administration restored Havel’s practice of flying the Tibetan flag from Prague City Hall.
Hrib, a 38-year-old doctor, spent one of his medical internships in Taiwan.
He headed a delegation from Prague to a smart city forum held in Taipei at the end of March.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a