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China’s Embassy in Prague had threatened to retaliate against leading Czech companies if a prominent senator went ahead as planned to visit Taiwan, according to a letter dated 10 January reviewed by Reuters.

The letter, written in Czech and sent to President Miloš Zeman’s office, suggested that Škoda Auto, PPF’s consumer lending arm Home Credit Group, and instrument maker Petrof Pianos would all suffer.

The debate was made moot when Czech senate chairman and speaker Jaroslav Kubera, died on 20 January of heart failure ahead of the planned trip.

“Czech companies whose representatives visit Taiwan with Chairman Kubera will not be welcome in China or with the Chinese people,” the letter says, according to Reuters.

The Constitutional Court has rejected proposals put forward by President Miloš Zeman and others to annul part of a conflict of interest law popularly known as “Lex Babiš”.

The 2017 legislation was so nicknamed as it seemed to specifically target Andrej Babiš, the then finance minister and current prime minister, who controlled a number of major Czech media. He has since placed those and other assets in two trusts.

Despite a presidential veto, the bill was pushed through Parliament, leading Zeman to file a petition arguing that it was unconstitutional because it violates a prohibition on discrimination on the basis of property. Members of Babiš

“Lex Babiš” prohibits members of the government from owning and operating radio and television stations and publishing periodicals. At the same time, it prevents companies in which cabinet members have at least a 25 percent share from bidding for public contracts.

Zeman said on Tuesday through his spokesman that he respects the Constitutional Court decision.

Prague’s Václav Havel Airport handled a record 1.05 million passengers in January, almost 80,000 more in annual terms for the month.

However, the coronavirus outbreak in China and local major storm Sabine is likely to negatively impact February figures.

Passenger numbers have been growing steadily since 2013. Last year, Václav Havel Airport handled a record 17.8 million passengers, up 6 percent year on year.

The growth was due to more direct links to exotic holiday destinations as well as more connections to the most frequented European cities. The top destination was London.

The Civic Democrats are now polling ahead of the Pirate Party and would finish second if parliamentary elections were held in January, according to the Median agency.

The ANO party of PM Andrej Babiš retains a commanding lead in the polls, and would capture 30 percent of the vote, the agency says. The Civic Democrats would gain 14 percent of the vote and the Pirates 11.5 percent.

That represents a 1.5 percentage point rise in support for the Civic Democrats since November and a 1 pp drop for the Pirates, according to Median’s projections.

The Communists would place fourth (at 8 percent), the Freedom and Direct Democracy fifth (at 7.5 percent), the Social Democrats sixth (at 7 percent), the Independents and Mayors seventh (at 6 percent), and the Christian Democrats eighth (at 5 percent).

TOP 09 (at 4.5 percent) would fall 0.5 pp shy of the threshold to enter parliament. The Greens and new Tricolour party are both polling at 2 percent.