Vendula Vinsova, daughter of late Czech Senate president Jaroslav Kubera, said her recent trip to Taiwan with current Senate President Milos Vystrcil was a way to fulfill her father’s final wish.
As the four-day trip drew to a close on Thursday last week, Vinsova said that she believed the mission had been a success.
Asked what she would tell her father about her visit if she could, Vinsova said she would tell him that his original plan to visit Taiwan in 2020 “was the right thing to do.”
Photo: CNA
“If my father had visited back then, he would have fallen in love with Taiwan,” she said through an interpreter.
Kubera was a longtime supporter of Taiwan. He died of a heart attack in January 2020, a month before his planned trip to the nation.
At the time, Czech media said the Chinese embassy had sent a letter threatening repercussions for Czech businesses if Kubera went through with the trip.
Following Kubera’s death, his successor, Vystrcil, promptly decided to lead a 90-member delegation of political, business and scientific leaders to Taiwan from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5, 2020.
At a June 2020 press conference, Vystrcil said he was dismayed by the letter and found the influence China exerted over his country “unbearable.”
Vystrcil said the Czech Republic’s history of prioritizing freedom, democracy, independence and the rule of law over financial gain contributed to his decision to visit Taiwan.
Last week, Vystrcil led a 40-member delegation to Taiwan on his second trip to the country. Vinsova was one of the delegates.
Asked whether she believed China’s threats were related to her father’s heart attack and subsequent death, Vinsova said she did.
According to Vinsova, her father received separate letters from the Chinese embassy in the Czech Republic and the Czech Presidential Office telling him that “if he insists on visiting Taiwan, he will pay the highest price.”
The Czech Senate launched an investigation into the threats against her father, but no conclusions were drawn.
Her father kept his work and personal life separate and would not talk about the pressure he was under, but he appeared extremely tired and unwell during that period, she said.
“I had never seen my father so distressed,” she added.
Her father believed that although the Czech Republic and Taiwan were geographically distant, they were very similar, particularly in their shared spirit of resistance, she said.
He also believed that there is no greater value in the world than democracy and freedom, Vinsova said.
Before departing for Taiwan, Vinsova collected several pebbles from the Czech Republic and inscribed them with her father’s name and wishes, including “freedom.”
While in Taipei, she scattered the pebbles around the city, hoping that someone would find one bearing her father’s name.
If she could share one thing about the trip with her father, Vinsova said she would want him to know about the bravery of Taiwanese and the unwavering friendship between Taiwan and the Czech Republic.
She said that she would tell him that “what you insisted on doing back then was the right thing to do.”
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