CHOICE Newsletter: Unraveling Czech-China Relations – What’s Next?

Dear reader,

CHOICE didn’t take a summer break – we’ve been growing! Our team now comprises six people, including four China experts covering everything from domestic policy to foreign affairs and the economy. We’ve also revamped our newsletter to bring you fresh, insider insights on China from Central and Eastern Europe every month. Kicking things off, we dive into the latest developments in Prague, where the long-anticipated revision of China’s strategy is finally starting to take form.

CHOICE Take

What do Mrs. Columbo and the revision of the Czech China strategy have in common? Well, neither has ever made an appearance. For those unfamiliar, Mrs. Columbo is the famously unseen wife of TV detective Columbo. She was endlessly referenced but never actually showed up on screen. The same could be said about the revised Czech China strategy over the past years – discussed at length but mysteriously absent.

The last official strategy hails from the pro-China days of former Czech President Miloš Zeman, but the current coalition government vowed in its manifesto to rethink relations with both China and Russia. While the Ukraine war quickly made it clear where the Czech Republic stands with Russia, dealing with China has proven far more complicated.

As we inch closer to the next election, we hear that the government is finally coming to the conclusion of its revised China strategy. The biggest challenge? Finding any kind of positive agenda with China. The negatives, however, are clear and many: a significant trade deficit, China’s pro-Russian neutrality during the Ukraine war, the freezing of diplomatic ties after Senate President Miloš Vystrčil’s historic visit to Taiwan in 2020, the demise of the 14+1 initiative, and China’s continued influence operations within Czechia. All of these factors have left Czech-China relations in a state of limbo, with little progress or warmth in sight.

Interestingly, while relations with China have been in limbo, Czechia has been forging closer ties with Taiwan, reaping some practical benefits in the process. These include a direct air link between Prague and Taipei, Taiwanese investments in Czech companies producing cutting-edge dual-use technology, and even joint research projects. This growing relationship with Taiwan is more than symbolic—it’s tangible. It raises an uncomfortable question for the Czech government: what exactly is China offering, and what does Czechia actually want from China at this point? If no positive agenda can be found, this revision of the strategy may just end up highlighting a deepening drift between the two countries.

With the election only a year away, the government seems to be muddling through the process of finalizing the revision of the strategy. The real test will be to see what they can salvage from an increasingly strained relationship. How much of the new strategy will actually be made public after discussions in the government? Will the strategy finally come out of hiding, or will it remain as elusive as ever, leaving Czech-China relations adrift? Only time will tell, but for now, the mystery continues.

by Ivana Karásková, CHOICE Lead

CHOICE News

 CHOICE Lead Ivana Karásková testified before the U.S. Congress about China’s influence in Europe (Ivana’s written testimony here).

AMO is opening a new office in Taiwan, led by our China analyst Filip Noubel.

Our analyst Dominika Remžová has provided a commentary for Seznam Zprávy on the topic of green economy and European dependence on China

(read here). 

 Ivana Karásková contributed to the latest edition of the Chaillot Paper (published by the European Union Institute for Security Studies), with a chapter focusing on the coercion of European political representatives by China

(read here). 

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