President-elect of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel held a phone call on Monday with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan, becoming the first elected European head of state to do so, in a move that has angered China.
EU leaders traditionally avoid direct political contact with Taiwanese officials, limit official exchanges to the level of civil servants, and often communicate under the radar.
But international attention to Taiwan has been rising as a result of growing military threats from China towards the self-ruled island, which Beijing claims as its territory.
Powell confirmed the conversation on Twitter, saying: “Today, I spoke with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan. I thanked her for the congratulations and I assured her that Taiwan and the Czech Republic stand united in their commitment to freedom, democracy and human rights.” share values.” Right. We agreed to strengthen our partnership.”
Observers in Taiwan compared Tsai’s phone call with Powell to the one she had with Donald Trump, who also spoke to her as US President-elect.
Ivana Karaskova, founder of China Observers in Central and Eastern Europe, said, “In one of the pre-election interviews, Pavel answered ‘yes’ to a journalist’s question when asked whether he would visit Taiwan.” will do.” , a think tank based in Prague. “The move would be unprecedented because presidents of EU member states rarely go there. I can’t think of any.”
Czech media reported that the Chinese diplomat in Prague was “in contact” with Czech authorities to try to prevent Pavel from making the call to Taipei.
In Brussels, diplomats are watching carefully to see whether Beijing will follow through with economic retaliation. When Beijing blocked imports from Lithuania after ties with Taiwan in 2021, the EU had to act on behalf of the Baltic state and launched legal proceedings against China at the World Trade Organisation.
Powell’s move marks a sharp break with his earlier policy toward China. Miloš Zeman, the current Czech president in power since 2013, has advocated a strong pro-Beijing line, even as it increasingly clashes with other political heavyweights in his country.
In a striking move, Zeman appointed Ye Jianming, former chairman of China Energy Co, as his honorary economic advisor – until the billionaire businessman was detained in secrecy by Chinese authorities in 2018. His whereabouts are unknown.
Petr Tamma, visiting fellow at the Atlantic Council, said, “While public opinion did not care about the Czech position on China, it is different in politics.” “Those who were hostile to Zeman used his pro-China policy to distance themselves from the president.”