Government-Senate clash signals U-turn in Czech diplomacy
Fresh controversy has broken out on the Czech political scene after the Babis administration refused to provide Senate Speaker Miloš Vystrčil (Civic Democrats) with a government aircraft for a planned business trip to Taiwan. The decision highlights the government’s determination to pursue a pragmatic rather than values-based foreign policy.
Hard on the heels of the government’s clash with President Pavel over who should represent the country at the NATO summit in Ankara, the Babis administration has locked horns with the head of the Senate, Miloš Vystrčil, who has in the past nurtured Czechia’s relations with Taiwan. Under the former administration of Petr Fiala this foreign policy line was supported both by the cabinet and the Chamber of Deputies. Now the ruling coalition has put its foot down regarding top-level trips to Taiwan, which the prime minister said threatened Czech business opportunities in China.
“We will pursue a pragmatic foreign policy – I will visit Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan – for our companies to do business, not the values-based approach, which has essentially brought nothing and only harmed our companies,” Babiš said in a post on X.
Vystrčil is set to visit Taiwan with a business delegation at the end of May. Babiš described the trip as a “multi-million-crown excursion” and suggested the Senate speaker use a commercial flight instead. “These trips cost millions,” he said, referring to former trips to Taiwan made by Mr. Vystrčil and the former lower house speaker Markéta Pekarová Adamová.
However, the need to economize is only a secondary consideration. The main argument is that China considers Taiwan a breakaway province and expects its business partners to respect the “one-China policy”. A government aircraft would make it an official delegation backed by the government, Babiš said, arguing that such actions in the past had led to the loss of Chinese investment and tourism in the Czech Republic. He stressed that the cabinet’s decision on the matter had been unanimous.
Opposition politicians are outraged over the government’s decision. They point to the fact that, like President Pavel, the head of the Senate is a key constitutional official and attempts to restrict their travel and contacts with foreign partners are unacceptable.
Civic Democratic Party leader Martin Kupka, said the government’s actions were “petty and narrow-minded” and its foreign policy was chaotic.
“ This decision really shows that the cabinet is turning the wheel of Czech foreign policy, but there is no clear direction. What we are seeing here is pure spite.”
Christian Democrat leader Marek Výborný called the refusal “pathetic,” noting that the trip involved a large business delegation to an important trading partner, whose business ties with Czechia were currently more intense and fruitful than those with China. Taiwan is 13th on the ladder of states investing in Czechia, while China is 16th he pointed out.
Industry and Trade Minister Karel Havlíček (ANO) defended the cabinet’s decision on CNN Prima News, saying the government was acting fully in line with other European countries, none of whom had sent top constitutional officials to Taiwan in recent years.
“This is standard diplomatic practice linked to a certain strategy. Because if this delegation arrived on a government plane it would close the door to renewed business contacts with China, which we need.”
Political analysts comment on the deepening divide between the ruling coalition and the Office of the President and the Senate. They note that the government’s foreign policy line needs to be transparent and say the tug-of-war between the country’s leading constitutional officials will inevitably undermine the country’s credibility.
