TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Czech Republic's official visit to Taiwan will serve as "a lesson" for European countries on how to interact with China, according to an opinion piece in the Washington Post published Thursday (Sept. 3).

Dalibor Rohac, the author, originally from Slovakia and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, pointed out the delegation, led by Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil, has accelerated the deterioration of Chinese-Czech relations by its trip to Taiwan. He said the visit drew an immediate backlash from the Chinese government and its foreign minister Wang Yi (王毅), who threatened Vystrcil would "pay a heavy price."

Despite Beijing's stern protests, Rohac said several European countries, including Germany and France, have refused to bow to Chinese pressure and voiced support for the Czech Republic. He described the pushback as "refreshing" and said the Czech-Taiwan interaction has turned members of the European Union (EU) into “outspoken critic of Chinese hegemony.”

Rohac said Beijing has long advertised its economic influence in the Czech Republic, but the promised results never arrived. He added that Taiwanese companies have invested 14 times as much in Czech manufacturing compared with China, which shows Beijing's tendency to break its promises.

Meanwhile, Rohac noted the majority of the Czech public holds a negative view toward China, which was shown in a poll conducted last November. According to the poll results, China has the lowest favorability among Czechs, with 71 percent blaming it for the spread of coronavirus.

Rohac stressed that Beijing's pressure on the Czech Republic has led to the opposite of what it intended and the Central European nation has provided a "principled, values-based" approach to China for the rest of Europe. He said it is time for European countries to follow the Czech government and adopt the new model it introduced.