[International] Former Prague Mayor: Refused to Bow to Beijing's Pressure During Term, Facilitated Pangolin Loan from Taiwan
bellala 央廣3h ago
During his term, former Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib facilitated the loan of pangolins from Taipei Zoo to Prague Zoo. He recalled that Prague refused Beijing's "One China Principle" political clauses that year, decisively establishing a sister city relationship with Taipei. Subsequently, Prague faced political and cultural retaliation from Beijing, but the crisis was quickly resolved. He emphasized: "Standing tall has an invaluable and undeniable worth."
On the 18th, the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic held a meeting on "Cooperation Achievements Between the Czech Republic and Taiwan to Date," focusing on the results of years of cooperation between Taiwan and the Czech Republic in politics, economy, trade, technology, and academia. Many Czech politicians and scholars shared their insights, including Senate President Miloš Vystrčil, former Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Marketa Pekarova Adamova, and Hřib.
Hřib is currently a member of the Chamber of Deputies, chairman of the Czech Pirate Party, and served as Mayor of Prague from 2018 to 2023. He stated that the public often believes diplomacy is the exclusive domain of central governments, but in Western "multi-level democracy" systems, it is normal and a healthy check and balance for mayors of capital cities and heads of state to have different diplomatic routes.
He said that city diplomacy possesses high flexibility, and more importantly, it allows the Czech Republic to "at least hold its head high and stand tall" when facing authoritarian pressure in the international community.
Recalling Prague's diplomatic relations with China, Hřib said that when the city government was signing a sister city agreement with Beijing, it faced politically imposed clauses, such as requiring Prague to recognize the "One China Principle."
Hřib requested the deletion of the political clauses from the Chinese side. However, not only did the Chinese side refuse to delete them, but they also began to bully Czech cultural groups. The first to be affected was the Prague Philharmonia, whose tour in China was canceled.
Hřib said that this retaliation later escalated to absurd levels, with the Chinese side even blacklisting the "Pražák Quartet" simply because its English name sounded like Prague. In reality, the quartet's name originated from the surname of its founder, Pražák.
He said: "What use is a partner who does not respect us and has no substantial mutually beneficial projects for Prague? Therefore, we decisively decided to terminate the agreement." At the time, pro-China politicians threatened that "offending China would make the Czech Republic poor," but Hřib countered with facts: "First, we did not become poor; second, even if we did suffer losses, from an economic perspective, 'standing tall' has an invaluable and undeniable worth!"
Hřib mentioned that the concerts canceled by China quickly found touring opportunities in Taiwan. When China politically retaliated by refusing to import the renowned Czech Petrof pianos, local Czech entrepreneurs quickly bought them all and donated them to domestic schools.
He stated: "This proves that all problems are easily solvable in the democratic world. The threats of 'billions of Czech koruna in economic losses' are complete fabrications." Conversely, the "tens of billions of Chinese investment" promised by Beijing at the time proved to be empty promises, essentially just buying existing machinery factories or football clubs, creating no new jobs and bringing no high-tech industries or intellectual property.
After bidding farewell to Beijing in 2019, Prague and Taipei established a sister city relationship in 2020. Hřib said this alliance is both value-based and pragmatic, and the two sides quickly launched several cooperation projects.
Hřib cited the example of COVID-19, during which Taiwan immediately provided Prague with a large number of medical supplies and ventilators. The loan of Taiwan's endemic and protected pangolins to Taipei Zoo made Prague Zoo the only zoo in Europe to successfully breed pangolin cubs in captivity, earning it top international reputation.
He stated that in strategic cybersecurity cooperation, Taiwan has long been at the forefront of combating new types of cyber threats, and the Czech Republic also faces its aggressive neighbor, Russia. Russia is currently engaging in intensive hybrid warfare against the Czech Republic, making intelligence and technology sharing in cybersecurity between Taipei and Prague valuable for national security.
Hřib concluded that facing authoritarian regimes in the East, yielding is never an option. "Once we yield, we not only fail to achieve any economic prosperity but also lose our digital sovereignty and security in the information technology sector." He called on the Czech political scene to deepen its partnership with Taiwan, proving that "value diplomacy" and "pragmatic economy" can be a win-win.
(Editor: Zhong Jinlong)
Source Link: https://www.rti.org.tw/news?uid=3&pid=215589
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