Late Czech Senate Speaker Kubera posthumously awarded Thai high honour

Former Senate chairman Jaroslav Kubera, who died in office, has been posthumously awarded a Taiwanese high honour by President Tsai Ing-wen in recognition of his long-term support for his country.

The Order of Propitious Clouds was received on Kubera’s behalf by his successor, Miloš Vystrčil, who is leading a Czech delegation to Taiwan. Kubera had planned to lead the delegation himself.

After meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu in Taipei on Thursday, Vystrčil said he had invited Taiwanese Parliament Speaker Yu Shyi-kun to Prague.

The trip of the Czech parliamentary delegation, which ends on Friday, has been widely criticized by Beijing, which considers the island a breakaway Chinese province.