Taipei wins over Prague but Taiwan may face bigger Beijing battle

The Czech capital has abandoned its Chinese counterpart for a sister-city agreement with Taipei

But Beijing might increase pressure on all fronts to send a message to the island’s newly re-elected president, observers say

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Prague mayor Zdenek Hrib shakes hand with his Taipei counterpart, Ko Wen-je, in the Old Town Square in Prague on Monday. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:56pm, 14 Jan 2020Updated: 4:15pm, 17 Feb 2020

Taiwan has scored a small diplomatic win with the Czech capital, Prague, which has abandoned a planned sister-city agreement with Beijing and signed one with Taipei.

The move came soon after Tsai Ing-wen, of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan, defeated her main challenger, populist Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu, to win a second term as president – to the irritation of Beijing.

But analysts warned that Taiwan could face tough challenges from mainland China in the years ahead as Beijing puts added diplomatic pressure on the island to teach Tsai a lesson.

Beijing, which had hoped for Tsai’s defeat, has poached seven of the island’s allies since she was elected president in 2016 and refused to accept the one-China principle. It has also staged a series of war games to try to intimidate the island and suspended official exchanges with Taipei.

On Monday, a day after Tsai secured a second term with about 57 per cent of the vote, Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je represented her government to sign a sister-city pact with Prague mayor Zdenek Hrib, who ignored mainland warnings not to go ahead with the agreement.