The Czech Republic and Taiwan (officially the Republic of China) maintain strong unofficial relations.
In the absence of official diplomatic relations, the Czech Republic is represented by the Czech Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, and Taiwan by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Prague.
Economic relations
Taiwanese electronics manufacturerFoxconn runs its largest European operations in the Czech Republic, the company's European Union (EU) hub.[1] The subsidiary, named Foxconn CZ, is by profit one of largest companies in the Czech Republic.[2]
In August 2020, Czech Senate PresidentMiloš Vystrčil traveled to Taiwan on an official visit to "promote business links" between the two countries.[3]
As part of the Business Opportunities Promotion Plan, CzechInvest opened its Taipei office in May 2024, and the Czech Centre Taipei held its ceremony in June.[4]
In August-September 2024, Taiwanese National Security Council secretary-general Joseph Wu led a delegation to the GLOBSEC Forum held in Prague. He stated in a news conference that Taiwan was planning a semiconductor cluster in the Czech Republic. Separately in Taipei, the National Development Council made a statement that the Czech Chamber of Deputies proposed providing tax incentives to support Taiwanese investments in the Czech semiconductor industry.[5]
In September 2024, the Taiwanese foreign ministry announced a joint Czech-Taiwanese semiconductor research center. The bilateral initiative includes a supply chain research center jointly managed by Charles University and National Chengchi University.[4]
Diplomatic and cultural exchanges
In 1994, Czech Republic Minister of the Economy Karel Dyba became the first sitting government minister to visit Taiwan.[6]
Jaroslav Kubera, President of the Senate of the Czech Republic, planned a visit to Taipei prior to his death, prompting threats of retaliation from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[7] Kubera's successor, Miloš Vystrčil, however, led a delegation to Taiwan that arrived in Taipei on August 31, 2020. While there, Vystrčil gave a speech, declaring "I am a Taiwanese," echoing John F. Kennedy's famous "I am a Berliner" speech. The People's Republic of China said that Vystrčil would "pay a heavy price" for visiting what it considers to be a "renegade province". Meanwhile, the President of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman said of the trip that “I consider it boyish provocation.”[8]
In July 2022, You Si-kun, the President of the Taiwan's Legislative Yuan, led a delegation to visit the Czech Republic. He also delivered a speech at the Czech Senate, declaring "I am Taiwanese; I am Czech, because we are both believers of democracy."[10][11]
In March 2024, Taiwanese vice president-electHsiao Bi-khim was invited by think tank Sinopsis to visit the Czech Republic. She stopped in Prague following a trip to the United States and met with Miloš Vystrčil.[15]
In October 2024, Former Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen visited the Czech Republic and delivered a speech at the Forum 2000, during which she met with the Czech President Petr Pavel, the President of the Senate Miloš Vystrčil and the President of the Chamber of Deputies Markéta Pekarová.[16]
Public health cooperation
In March 2020, the Czech Republic and Taiwan signed an official partnership to fight COVID-19, the first such agreement signed by Taiwan.[17]
In April 2021, Taiwan's foreign ministry thanked the Czech Republic for supporting Taiwan's bid to participate in World Health Assembly. The Czech Senate unanimously passed a resolution calling for Taiwan to take part in all divisions of the World Health Organization. It's the first time such a motion has progressed in a legislative chamber in the country.[18]
In 2019, Czech Republic–Taiwan relations warmed when the Prague city council under Mayor Zdeněk Hřib voted to cancel sister city relations with Beijing due to the unwillingness of Beijing to renegotiate the inclusion of a "One-China policy" clause. While respecting the policy itself, Prague deemed inappropriate to express national policy in a sister city agreement.[21][22] On January 13, 2020, Prague and Taipei became sister cities.[23]