Taiwanese foreign minister and delegation to visit Czech Republic

Latest sign of Prague’s warm relations with the self-ruled island after it angered Beijing when the speaker of the Czech parliament’s upper house visited Taipei

Taiwanese delegation is also set to visit Slovakia and Lithuania

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Milos Vystrcil, the Czech Republic senate’s president (left), angered Beijing by visiting Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen (centre) last year. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 3:27pm, 20 Oct 2021Updated: 3:27pm, 20 Oct 2021

Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu and a business delegation will visit Prague on October 23 to 27, the Czech Taiwanese Business Chamber said on Tuesday, in a fresh indication of warm relations between the European Union country and the self-ruled island.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry announced last month that an investment delegation led by a senior minister would travel to three central and eastern European countries to show gratitude for Covid-19 vaccine gifts and other support.

Besides the Czech Republic, the Taiwanese delegation is scheduled to visit neighbouring Slovakia, and Lithuania.

Kung Ming-hsin, who runs the National Development Council, which is in charge of Taiwan’s industrial development policy, will lead the delegation for the series of meetings focused on hi-tech cooperation on October 23-26, the chamber said.

The visit, which includes the foreign minister’s arrival on October 27, is likely to trigger a reaction from China, similar to its rebuke of the Czech parliament upper house speaker, Milos Vystrcil, for his trip to Taipei in September 2020. China claims Taiwan as its own territory.