當代捷中關係的演變：從政經合作的角度觀察 - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學亞太研究英語碩土學位學程 International Master’s Program in Asia-Pacific Studies College of Social Sciences National Chengchi University 碩士論文 Master’s Thesis. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. ‧. 當代捷中關係的演變：從政經合作的角度觀察 The Contemporary Evolution of Czech-China Relations: Political and Economic Cooperation. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. e. i. i n U. v. n g c hBc. Zuzana Ullrichová Student: 于莉荷 Advisor: 蔡中民 Prof. Tsai Chung-Min, Ph.D.. 中華民國 2016 年 06 月 June 2016.

(2) 當代捷中關係的演變：從政經合作的角度觀察 The Contemporary Evolution of Czech-China Relations: Political and Economic Cooperation 研究生：于莉荷. Student: Zuzana Ullrichová. 指導教授：蔡中民. Advisor: Tsai Chung-Min. 碩士論文. 學. ‧ 國. 國立政治大學政治大亞太研究英語碩土學位學程立. ‧. io. y. sit. Nat. A Thesis. n. al. er. submitted to International Master’s Program in Asia-Pacific Studies,. Ch. i n U. v. e Chengchi n g c h i University National. in partial fulfillment of the Requirement for the degree of Master in Asia-Pacific Studies.. 中華民國 2016 年 06 月 June 2016.

(3) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. i. Dedication This Thesis is dedicated to my parents. Thank you for all your love and support. I could not have achieved all that I have. 立. 治you. 政 without 大. ‧ 國. 學. Tato diplomová práce je věnována mým rodičům. Děkuji vám za vaši lásku a podporu. Bez vás bych to všechno nebyla schopna dokázat.. ‧. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v.

(4) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. ii. Acknowledgements I would like to thank to my advisor, Professor Chung-Min Tsai, without whose invaluable guidance, support, and encouragement this thesis would never have come to be. I consider myself very lucky to have benefited from his counsel. I am also very grateful to Professor Tse-Kang Leng and Professor Wen-Yang Chang for being part of my thesis committee and for all the advice and help they have so generously given. Zuzana Ullrichová June 2016. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v.

(5) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. iii. 摘要捷克共和國（簡稱捷克）自建國以來，與中華人民共和國（簡稱中國）維持著正式的外交關係。2004 年，捷克加入歐盟後，兩國關係更快速進展，乃因中國視捷克為策略夥伴。為了最佳檢視捷中關係，本論文採用新自由主義當作研究方. 政治大. 法，從國際政經的角度來探討，而非從國際安全的角度。. 立. ‧ 國. 學. 本論文檢視了現任總統執政期間，捷克為深化與中國合作所採取的各種措施。捷克總統曾積極地推動捷中經濟往來以及吸引中國. ‧. 各種可能的投資。除了經濟合作之外，捷中兩國擁有正向的政治關. y. Nat. er. io. sit. 係。捷克政府改變了對中國既有的態度，從“因違反人權而譴責中. n. al 國以及對捷中進一步合作興趣缺缺”的負面態度大幅度轉變成致力 iv n U engchi 於“維持捷中良好關係、避開敏感話題以及發展實質的合作”的正. Ch. 面態度。本論文藉檢視捷中已簽訂的協議以及捷克官員的言論來探討政治面的議題。此外，也利用其中一個章節來探討捷克與台灣間的非正式關係，以及此一關係如何影響捷中關係。.

(6) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. iv. 在歐洲的中部與西部地區當中，捷克並非是中國唯一有興趣往來的國家，本論文透過維謝格拉德集團（Visegrád group）等四國與中國關係的比較來探討中國是否給予捷克任何較為特殊的待遇。. 關鍵詞. 政治大. 習近平、米洛什·澤曼、外商直接投資、台灣、歐洲聯盟、維謝格拉德集團. 立. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v.

(7) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. v. Abstract Since its establishment, the Czech Republic has had an official relationship with the People’s Republic of China. The mutual relationship has been evolving in recent years, however notably from the year 2004 when the Czech Republic join the European Union, which made her a strategic partner in China’s eyes. To provide the best examination of Czech-China relations, I use neoliberalism as a theoretical approach. I apply neoliberalism from an. 政治大. international political economy perspective rather than international. 立. security.. ‧ 國. 學. During the current Presidency period we can examine steps that. ‧. have been made by the Czech Republic to deepen cooperation with China. The Czech president has been actively involved, especially in. Nat. sit. y. economic engagement with China and in attracting possible investment.. er. io. Besides economic cooperation, these two countries have had a positive. n. a The Czech government hasvchanged the unofficial political relationship. i l C n approach from 'blaming China h e for n gviolating c h i Uhuman rights and lack of. interest in further cooperation especially from the Czech side' into a focus on 'keeping good relations, avoiding sensitive topics, and aiming at developing solid cooperation'. This signals a dramatic change in focus for the Czech Republic. The political section of this research provides the examination of agreements and statements of government officials. One chapter of this section is devoted to unofficial relations between the Czech Republic and Taiwan and how it influences Czech-China relations. The Czech Republic is not the only country in the region of Central and Eastern Europe China is interested in. Comparing the Czech Republic.

(8) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. vi. to other Visegrád group (V4) countries leads us to a question as to whether China provides any special treatment to the Czech Republic, therefore an analysis of V4 countries-China relations is also shown in this research.. KEY WORDS Xi Jinping, Miloš Zeman, FDI, Taiwan, European Union, Visegrád Group. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v.

(9) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. vii. TABLE OF CONTENTS 摘要............................................................................................................................ iii Abstract .......................................................................................................................... v List of Figures ............................................................................................................... ix List of Abbreviations ..................................................................................................... x Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 1.1.. Motivation ....................................................................................................... 5. 1.2.. Research Questions ......................................................................................... 6. 1.5.. Theoretical Framework ................................................................................. 12. Methodology ................................................................................................. 16. Nat. y. 1.6.. Neoliberalism ......................................................................................... 13. ‧. 1.5.1.. ‧ 國. 1.3.. 學. 1.4.. 治政大 Hypotheses ...................................................................................................... 6 立 Literature Review .......................................................................................... 11. 1.6.2.. Data Analysis ......................................................................................... 17. n. al. er. sit. Data Collection ...................................................................................... 16. io. 1.6.1.. i n U. v. Chapter 2: Political Cooperation.................................................................................. 20. Ch. engchi. 2.1.. Overview ....................................................................................................... 20. 2.2.. China’s Soft Power in the Czech Republic ................................................... 24. 2.3.. The Taiwan Issue .......................................................................................... 25. 2.4.. Strengthening Ties......................................................................................... 29. 2.4.1. 2.5.. Evaluation of the Xi Jinping’s Visit to Czech ....................................... 33. Sustainability and Institualization ................................................................. 37. 2.5.1.. Czech Identity After Joining the EU...................................................... 40. Chapter 3: Economic Cooperation ............................................................................... 42 3.1. China’s Involvement in the Czech Republic ..................................................... 45.

(10) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 3.2.. viii. Import and Export Between Czech and China .............................................. 48. Chapter 4: China And V4 ............................................................................................ 52 4.1.. Hungary ......................................................................................................... 55. 4.2.. Poland ............................................................................................................ 57. 4.3.. Slovakia ......................................................................................................... 58. Chapter 5: Conclusion.................................................................................................. 60 5.1.. Statement of Limitations ............................................................................... 60. 5.2.. Implications of the Research ......................................................................... 62. 政治大. References .................................................................................................................... 69. 立. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v.

(11) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. ix. LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Do you like how Prague is decorated to welcome the Chinese President? .. 37 Figure 2: Chinese people in the Czech Republic ......................................................... 47 Figure 3: Import to Czech from China ......................................................................... 49 Figure 4: Export from Czech to China ......................................................................... 50 Figure 5: Imports from China as a percentage of total imports of goods, on a cost, insurance, and freight basis .......................................................................................... 50 Figure 6: Stock of inward foreign direct investment per capita................................... 52 Figure 7: Chinese investment in Visegrád countries ................................................... 53. 政治大. Figure 8: EU Member State attitudes towards China .................................................. 55. 立. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v.

(12) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. x. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AI – Amnesty International CCP – China’s Communist Party CEE – Central and Easter Europe CIF – Cost, Insurance and Freight CZK – Czech Koruna (currency) EU – European Union. 政治大 FDI – Foreign Direct Investment 立 EUR – Euro (currency). ‧ 國. 學. FP – Foreign Politics IMF – International Monetary Fund. ‧. KSČM – Communist Party of Czech and Moravia. Nat. n. al. PRC – People’s Republic of China. Ch. engchi. R&D – Research and Development. SME – Small and Medium Enterprises TV – Television UN – United Nations USA – United States of America USD – United States Dollar (currency) V4 – Visegrád group (countries), Visegrád four WTO – World Trade Organization. sit er. io. NATO – The North Atlantic Treaty Organization. y. MNC – Multinational Corporations. i n U. v.

(13) CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION The research will analyze foreign relations of the Czech Republic and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In my research, I use an abbreviation “Czech” for the Czech Republic. “Czech” is usually considered as an adjective; however, from my personal experience, it is often used as a noun and short version of “the Czech Republic”. Recently, in has been announced that the Czech Republic will use “Czechia” as the abbreviation; however, I disagree with this decision for its phonetic sound, and I decided to use “Czech” instead.. 政治大. One of the significant reasons, why I decided to focus on the contemporary. 立. evolution of Czech-China relations is the year 2004, which links Czech to the. ‧ 國. 學. European Union (EU). Each European country is relatively small and not all of them are very powerful, but what makes them strong is joining the EU and using a power. ‧. of their united EU vote. For that reason, whichever agreement Czech makes with China, it is better if this agreement follows EU regulations, only then such an. sit. y. Nat. agreement will gain legal value which can be internationally protected. Another. io. er. reason is that the Czech Republic became more attractive for foreign investors as the EU member. Therefore, Czech also became more attractive for China as a bridge to. n. al. i n U. v. Europe. For China, relationship with Czech is a very strategic move for mainly two. Ch. engchi. reasons. Firstly, because Czech has an experience with Eastern Bloc market, Czech businessmen can help China to penetrate former “Soviet market”, because of their knowledge gained during fairly recent history. Secondly, Czech can also help China to penetrate western markets. Before the Czech Republic started opening up to world economies, the country was heavily dependent on trade with Germany. The Czech Republic has not only good strategic location, which is now even more valuable, since the country is part of the EU, but the country has also know-how how to penetrate “Western” and “Eastern” markets, which also became more easily done since the joining the EU, which ensured easier trade within the EU. In the OVERVIEW chapter, I analyze the development of Czech-China relations since the Czech’s establishment with the focus on the Presidency of Václav.

(14) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 2. Havel. Václav Havel was the first President of the Czech Republic, this analysis was chosen to complement this research, because after introducing Havel’s Presidency term, it is easier to understand how significant changes current Czech government have adapted with Miloš Zeman as the President. Václav Havel and Miloš Zeman both became very recognizable in domestic politics as well as in the foreign politics. Despite the fact that their personal views differ, both of their influence on foreign politics are undeniable, this research examines a Presidents’ foreign policy practice, their ideological and material motives during the presidency periods. I would like to remind to a reader that examination of Václav Havel period is used only to better evaluate the situation of Czech-China contemporary relations and is rather meant as. 治政大 in this research; however, I President from 2003 to 2013, his period is also examined 立 believe that the interest of Klaus was more concentrated towards the United States, an introductory into the actual research, which follows. Václav Klaus was the Czech. ‧ 國. 學. rather than China, therefore, for evaluating his personal contribution to Czech-China relations I used only limited space in this research; the period before 2013 is. not crucial to this research.. Nat. y. ‧. examined thoroughly; however, not with a concentration on the President, which is. sit. In the research, I identify ideological and value preferences of Czech. al. er. io. government officials and its impact on the Czech foreign policy, in consideration are. v i n Cperiod. evaluate Zeman’s presidency Zeman’s presidency period is still h e nBecause gchi U n. also taken their material interests in the area. However, this research’s goal is not to. ongoing, the main goal of this research is to provide a study on the changes that. contemporary Czech-China foreign relations have undergone and to demonstrate those changes on the current situation under the Zeman’s presidency. Despite the fact that in the Czech Republic President’s power is limited, I would like to prove on this research that President’s role limited by the Czech legislation is not an actual limitation on influencing foreign relations with a particular country, especially in matters of economic cooperation. I decided to divide Czech political history into Presidency periods because in the Czech Republic the President plays very important role in foreign politics, and it is very interesting to see how especially current President helps to shape prosperous Czech-China relations. Despite this fact, I do pay a special attention to economy and trade itself, as well as other topics and issues..

(15) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 3. Besides political aspects taken mostly from the Presidents’ perspective, and which are described it the Section POLITICAL COOPERATION, the same section also deals with Czech-Taiwan relations and a part is devoted to China’s soft power in Czech. There is already existing research on Czech-Taiwan relations available, but in this study, Czech-Taiwan relations are examined from a different perspective, which focuses on how Czech-China relations influence Czech-Taiwan relations and vice versa. We can see an improvement in Czech-China relations during past several years, this improvement will be linked to the evolving of Czech-Taiwan relations and it will be examined whether those two (Czech-China and Czech-Taiwan relations) are influencing each other. Soft power is mentioned in the relation to China’s Confucius. 治政大in the Czech Republic. In the foreign relations strategy. I will examine the situation 立 same chapter, I also introduce the issue of Tibet. In the Czech Republic, when it Institute project. I will discuss this topic because it is an important part of China’s. ‧ 國. 學. comes to media, they often criticize China for violating human rights. When media do so, they use Tibet as an example, then as the second example, they use Taiwan.. ‧. However, I rather decided to elaborate more about Taiwan. I examine the issue of Tibet more in relation to political affairs; I use an example of Dalai Lama, who. y. Nat. sit. visited Prague many times. For the case of Taiwan, my elaboration is more. al. er. io. developed. The main reason is because Taiwan is important for the Czech Republic. n. from an economic perspective. In the case of Tibet, people talk about it in relation to. Ch. i n U. v. an importance of human rights, but there is no other sphere of this relationship that. engchi. would bring a significant benefit to the Czech Republic, especially from an economic perspective. Taiwan, on the other hand, provides a great deal of cooperation in many fields. There is an academic exchange, economic cooperation, as well as cultural exchange. Therefore, it is more interesting, and in my opinion more important, to examine how Czech-China relations influence Czech-Taiwan relations and vice versa. Next part of this section focuses on current the way how Czech strengthens ties with China, a visit of the China’s President Xi Jinping to Czech is used as an example of Czech’s success in attracting China. In the following part I elaborate about a sustainability, of Czech-China relations, I look into its institutionalization, as well as an opinion of the Czech society about the relationship and about China herself. In a matter of Czech’s attractiveness for China the EU plays a big role,.

(16) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 4. therefore, I decided to analyze in this part an identity of Czech society, whether they feel attached to Europe. The ECONOMIC COOPERATION section examines economic cooperation between Czech and China. Some scholars argue that politics are not necessarily closely tied to economics, but this research tends to support the thought that when we want to study politics, we have to take a closer look on economics as well. To stress the importance of economic cooperation in foreign relations, the theory of neoliberalism will be applied. The importance of economic ties especially applies to China’s foreign politics. It is known that China spreads her influence through trade and economic power. I believe that a combination of politics and economics in one. 政治大 will be discussed Chinese tourists bringing money to Czech, Chinese investment in 立. research will provide an interesting perspective on Czech-China relations. In this part. the Czech Republic, and Czech-China import and export.. ‧ 國. 學. Lastly, in the section CHINA AND V4 I discussed similarities and differences. ‧. with other Visegrád group countries (V4) and their relationship with China, in order to compare it to the Czech situation. For the comparison I am not using Central. Nat. sit. y. European countries, because Central Europe includes Austria, Czech Republic,. io. er. Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia; from these countries Austria and Germany are economically on a different level compared to the rest, and also. n. al. i n U. v. considering historical background it is better to exclude Slovenia from the. Ch. engchi. comparison – because the area of Slovenia1 was not a satellite state of the Eastern Bloc. I believe that for the comparison it is the best to take countries that were a part of the Eastern Bloc and that are considered as Central European countries as well, and also their economy is on a comparable level. After this specification, we end up with Czech, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – these four countries are grouped together in Visegrád four (V4).. 1. Slovenia gain an independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. Yugoslavia was not a part of Eastern Bloc since 1948. Because Slovenia by 1948 was part of Yugoslavia, I consider Slovenia being not part of Eastern Bloc..

(17) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 1.1.. 5. MOTIVATION I have decided for this topic because of the field of my interest, which is. China studies. I have been studying China, Chinese history and culture for past six. Last year I started to focus more on China from a political and economic perspective, which I now find crucial for China’s relationship with Czech. To connect China with the Czech Republic and examine their relationship was the decision made in order to make a contribution towards my own country. I see a gap in an available research on Czech-China relations. Especially the current foreign relationship between the Czech Republic and the People’s Republic of China have not been rigorously described, the. 治政大 past few years. It is especially considering changes that have occurred during 立 research on Czech-China relations mainly to the important to provide a thorough biggest gap is in examining the recent situation of aforementioned relations,. ‧ 國. 學. Czech readers to establish an understanding of the current situation, which is otherwise described only by online newspapers. Czech society is becoming more and. ‧. more interested in China, especially because of business opportunities, which could a strengthened relationship and bring new future for Czechs in China’s trade. For this. Nat. sit. y. reason, it is important to provide relevant information not only to this group of. io. er. business-related people but also to the rest of the Czech society as a possible tool to help them understand and evaluate changes that Czech-China foreign relations have. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. undergone. As mentioned above, it is not only the Czech society who lacks an. engchi. available research, but also academic society. For this reason, the goal of this research is also to increase an interest in further research in this field. My intention is to provide new information also to the Chinese side and outside observers, who, as I hope, might become interested in future further research. I believe that it is important to bring more research on China’s intention in V4, as well as in the Central and Eastern Europe. I see the importance in the ability to better understand China, who is becoming more and more powerful in the global order..

(18) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 1.2.. 6. RESEARCH QUESTIONS In the framework of this research, I would like to answer following questions.. What significant changes Czech-China relations have recently undergone? What are the critical factors beyond economic concerns in China-Czech relations? Due to the fact that this research will be mainly established on the analysis of relatively complex sources, I decided to establish another sub-questions. What is the linkage between political and economic cooperation in the case of CzechChina relations?. 治政 Why does China have an interest in Czech, is there 大 anything particularly special in 立 to other Visegrád group countries? this relationship, compared ‧ 國. 學. How different Presidents influence the development of Czech-China relations?. io. al. er. HYPOTHESES. sit. y. Nat. 1.3.. ‧. Are there any concerns that could negatively influence Czech-China cooperation?. n. v i n relationship history, becauseC after Republic joined the European Union h ethenCzech gchi U In my opinion, the year 2004 means a great mark in Czech-China mutual. (EU) in 2004, the country had to adapt to new regulations and agreements. There is a common consensus among the EU that all member countries should follow the same path when it comes to cooperation with countries outside of the EU. After the joining, Czech started signing agreements with other countries involving economic, academic and other forms of cooperation. I believe that there have been recent significant changes in Czech-China relations, especially on the economic field. Those changes lead to more tight and equal economic cooperation between Czech and China. On the political sphere, the biggest change, in my opinion, is in the engagement of the Czech President Zeman; his presidency started in 2013; in Czech-China negotiations. I observed that during past few years, the Czech head of state has been actively supporting a prosperous relationship between China and Czech..

(19) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 7. Besides obvious efforts of President Zeman, I argue that there are other actors recently trying to promote Czech businesses in China, especially in Shanghai. From the cultural perspective, I see the changes in the increasing interest in China. The Czech capital, Prague, is planning to establish a close relationship with Beijing, they are about to sign the sister city agreement. As far as I am concerned, in the EU this type of agreement is not an exception, the same type of agreement was already signed between numerous cities, for instance, Copenhagen, Madrid or Paris. But in the V4 (Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary), Czech is the first country that will sign this type of agreement with Beijing, so far other countries have achieved to sign sister city agreements with Shanghai and other Chinese cities, but not with China’s capital.. 政治大 crucial, but it could not exist without adequate political support. Therefore, I suggest 立 I argue that economic side of Czech-China relations is probably the most. that political affairs are equally important. When looking at the current situation, I. ‧ 國. 學. believe tourism should be mentioned as one of the factors that influence Czech-China relations. For the Czech Republic, tourism is an important source of money income.. ‧. In my opinion, especially after sanctions placed on Russia, there are fewer tourists. y. Nat. that are willing to spend money in Czech. In this situation, when Czech is looking for. sit. another customer that can afford to spend money while traveling in Czech, China. al. er. io. could be a perfect target. Personally, I see a good example of the importance of. n. v i n C h as well. HavingUa proof of the effort to make course, be in favor of businessmen engchi commuting between the two countries easier is a good evidence for active. tourism in the establishment of direct flights between Czech and China, which will, of. improvement. Another factor that shows us the level of understanding and prosperity of mutual relations is the number of foreign people living in the country. In the case of my research, I believe it is important to examine if the number of Chinese people living in Czech in increasing. In my opinion, we can see an increase in Chinese living in Czech and that proves a raising interest of Chinese and China in general in Czech. Lastly, I consider China’s soft power as one of the factors influencing relations between China and other countries. When I specifically look at European countries, then Confucius institute should be mentioned. In the Czech case, Confucius.

(20) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 8. institute can influence Czech-China relations, especially because of the capital they can afford to use. I assume that this influence will not be crucial for Czech-China relations, because I am not aware of any evidence, which shows spreading the influence of the Confucius institute outside of the home city, Olomouc. In my opinion, political and economic cooperation are tied closely together. Some might argue that this occurrence is not essential because there can occur a situation when political cooperation is ongoing, together with academic, but not economic cooperation. I argue that such a cooperation would be to some extent vague. For good and boosting mutual relations, the economic, as well as political cooperation is necessary. I believe that the Czech government would agree with me. 政治大 ongoing between Czech and China do involve government officials, but a topic of 立. because as I have observed, meetings and negotiations on political matters that are. their discussion is almost always including the economic cooperation. As an example,. ‧ 國. 學. in Czech-China relations, the Czech Presidents promotes Czech trade, businessmen, and companies during his talks with China’s high government officials. Therefore, I. ‧. argue that the current situation of Czech-China relations requires the involvement of. y. Nat. politicians, and improvement of foreign relations, in order to strengthen the economic. sit. cooperation. Then, it will be possible for a trade to become more independent from. n. al. er. io. the government bodies, as it is according to the neoliberal society.. i n U. v. I believe that China might have many reasons why to engage with the Czech. Ch. engchi. Republic; however, it seems that there is no particular bond between those two countries that would not be observed in cases of other Visegrád group countries. Actually, I assume that Czech could be seen as even less important European country from China’s perspective, as it has been originally planned that China’s initiative “One Belt One Road” will most probably not include Czech. But on the other hand, I argue that there is also a possibility that this will not have a negative impact on Czech-China relations, because “the compensation” of this disadvantage can come in other forms, such as the opening of a branch of the Bank of China or more promises for Czech businesses entering Chinese market. From China’s perspective, I see the interest in Czech for mostly two reasons: First, a tighter relationship with Czech China has, the greater influence in EU can be performed (by China). Second, there may not have been any particular interests at the beginning, but because of efforts.

(21) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 9. made mostly by the Czech President, China is being the most approached by Czech among V4, and if China previously did not have any preferences between V4, why not to favor the country that is the most open and most willing to cooperate. To demonstrate a special treatment of Czech by China, which seems to be performed despite no specific evidence of China’s benefits from it, I would like to mention a planned visit of President Xi Jinping. President Xi has scheduled to visit the Czech Republic as the only European country during his stop in Europe before going to the United States. Why did Xi decide to visit only the Czech Republic? I argue that here again we should give a credit to the Czech President Zeman, who gained a promise from President Xi to visit Czech during his visit to China.. 政治大 more and more Chinese firms investing in Czech, China often uses her soft power in 立 Besides the economic side of the relationship, where for example there are. other countries. One of the biggest tools of China’s soft power is a Confucius. ‧ 國. 學. institute; however, it does not seem that, particularly in Czech, this institute has a significant influence.. ‧. Looking to the past, as I mentioned before, Czech-China relations have. Nat. sit. y. changed rapidly, not only considering growing economic exchange but also on. io. er. political matters. I believe that a President, any President of the Czech history, has very significant influence on the development of those mutual relations. So far, I. n. al. i n U. v. consider the current Czech President as the one who has made the biggest efforts,. Ch. engchi. compared to his two predecessors, to strengthen ties with China. As I mentioned above, Zeman has been very active during his talks with the President Xi Jinping in order to make his home country more attractive to China. If I were asked to evaluate the first Czech President Havel’s efforts to improve Czech-China relations, I would be rather negative. Negative in terms of Czech-China foreign relations improvement; I would like to state that my intention is not to say that Havel did little in Czech foreign politics; I believe that because of the values he considered as the most important, there was a certain clash between honoring these values and favoring China. When I talk about Havel’s values, it is worth to mention democracy and human rights, which I believe, he considered as the most important. I see the significant difference between Zeman and Havel, but between Zeman and the.

(22) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 10. second President Klaus, there are rather more similarities. In my opinion, so far, the President always has had a significant influence on in which direction will CzechChina relations develop during those five years of his presidency. I believe that a possible reason why the Czech Republic wants to improve the relationship with China is an economic need. When we look back to the past, when the Czech Republic was a new country, her enthusiasm about China was not so great among society, as well the government body, especially a President. We can see a huge change nowadays, when not only the President but also Czech society becomes more aware of China. Reasons seem obvious to me – a search for new markets and strengthening economic cooperation with a big strong country.. 政治大. As I see it, the biggest concern for Czech-China relations is that a relationship. 立. between those two countries would come back to as it was during Václav Havel. ‧ 國. 學. presidency. To specify, this situation could occur if Czech society, but mostly government criticizes China for the way of their acting, for instance in the matter of. ‧. human rights, particularly the issue of Tibet or Taiwan. But so far, I observe that the current government seems fond of China, renouncing the possibility of bringing up. Nat. sit. y. aforementioned issues. There is a possibility that if Czech-Taiwan relations are. io. er. improving rapidly, China might notice that and push Czech to loosen their ties with Taiwan. I argue that the current situation suggests that Taiwan issue is not a threat to. n. al. i n U. v. Czech-China relations and vice versa. The evidence for that can be seen in no recent. Ch. engchi. official complaints by China involving Czech’s relationship with Taiwan. I assume that even despite the statement made by President Zeman, when he said that Taiwan is a part of China, Czech-Taiwan foreign relations did not worsen, because the economic and academic cooperation between the Czech Republic and Taiwan is already well-established and Zeman’s statement did not mean any threat to nor economic neither academic Czech-Taiwan cooperation..

(23) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 1.4.. 11. LITERATURE REVIEW While examining Chinese investments and financial engagement in the. Visegrád group, we can see an obvious increase of all various activities. China’s interest in Central and Eastern Europe has raised during past few years, especially after 2006 (Coyer, 2015; Grapin, 2015; Szunomár, 2014; Tiezzi, 2013; Zeneli, 2014; Zhen & Wu, 2015). There are two main reasons why China is interested in this region. The first element that influences China’s acting is simply a globalization, when the world is turning towards more global focus in economy, big countries like China simply want to spread their influence. Global economy transformation,. 治政大2015; Szunomár, 2014). The which can be also specifically applied to V4 (Grapin, 立 sees a potential, challenges, and most importantly second reason is that China. therefore, leads China towards a greater interest in Central and Easter Europe (CEE),. ‧ 國. 學. opportunities in CEE (Coyer, 2015; Grapin, 2015; Szunomár, 2014; Tiezzi, 2013; Zeneli, 2014). It means that China, while spreading her power, chooses particularly. ‧. CEE, not because it is another region “to conquer”, but because this region has much to offer to China, mostly from an economic perspective. I used a term “conquer”,. Nat. sit. y. because some argue that a thing China wants the most is to gain power and influence,. io. er. I am not challenging that argument, but I suppose that despite that impression, China offers a good deal to other countries by investing there – it is beneficial for both sides.. al. n. v i n After 1993 the CzechCRepublic during her U first phase of foreign politics (FP) heng chi. focused mostly on a good relationship with countries of the same region, the second phase of Czech FP started in the year 2004 and the Czech Republic became more. open to the West (Pick & Handl, 2004). Václav Kotyk (2000) divides the first phase of Czech FP into two phases: 1993−1998 and 1998−present2. During the first phase the Czech Republic started orienting more towards the West and her cooperation with geographical Eastern Europe was weaken, Czech FP started focusing more on trade economy, as the most important trading partner was considered Germany, in 1996 the Czech Republic applied for and started preparing to join the European Union, and in 1997 the Czech Republic was promised to join The North Atlantic Treaty. The article was published in 2000, thus I suggest not to apply Kotyk’s evaluation on current years after 2000. 2.

(24) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 12. Organization (Kotyk, 2000; Hřích, 2004). In the second phase, the most important milestone was the year 1999, when the Czech Republic joined NATO and started cooperating more with South America. In past, the Czech Republic lacked a proper government body that would support an external economy of the state. To identify a position of state in external economic relations and to establish support for its development especially for export, Standardní systém podpory vnějších ekonomických vztahů (Standard system for external economic relations support) was created, this system together with CzechInvest agency supporting foreign investment and CzechTrade agency supporting foreign trade helped to improve external economic relations in the end of. 政治大 China is explained by Rudolf Fürst (2004), who believes that the Czech Republic 立. 1990s (Hřích, 2004). Specifically, the relationship between the Czech Republic and. have been passive, submissive, and ineffective while dealing with China; the biggest. ‧ 國. 學. problem is that the Czech Republic sees too close connection between Political and Economic relations, despite the fact that there are no direct ties between obstacles. ‧. with political differences and economic cooperation. Examination of more recent. y. Nat. years shows an improvement and the Czech Republic’s more liberal approach in the. n. 1.5.. er. io. al. sit. relationship with China.. i n THEORETICALCFRAMEWORK hengchi U. v. The theoretical framework is based on the neoliberalists’ view of international relations. The theoretical framework for this research is, in short, that the crucial element in international relations is not only politics but also economics and if economic cooperation between two countries is positively increasing, their overall relationship will improve as well. Governments should act to support free trade between countries, as well as to support their overall economic cooperation. When I elaborate about liberalism or neoliberalism, I take it rather from international political economy perspective than international security. When we apply neoliberalism on the case of Czech-China relations, it is important to distinguish between those two. If I would look at it from a perspective of international security, then I would rather be.

(25) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 13. concern whether worsening of this relationship could bring any possible threats for one of either side. My point of view is that no one would probably find likely that China might have international security problems related to such a small country as Czech; if we take the case otherwise, I still do not see a big probability that it would occur. After considering these facts, I decided rather concentrate on neoliberal perspective related to the international political economy. Liberal economic ideas and policies have been spreading through the world and affecting millions of people especially during past three decades (Simmons & Elkins, 2004). This perspective is very crucial also for domestic politics, because as Simmons and Elkins argue that “the evidence shows that policy transitions are influenced by international economic. 政治大. competition as well as the policies of a country’s sociocultural peers” (Simmons &. 立. 學. ‧ 國. Elkins, 2004, p. 171).. 1.5.1. NEOLIBERALISM. ‧. As a founder of neoliberalism is considered Robert O. Keohane. Keohane's. sit. y. Nat. work influenced later scholars in the similar field and Keohane's work remained. io. al. er. remarkable for neoliberalists until today.. n. Before we can start analyzing neoliberalism, it is important to understand. Ch. i n U. v. liberalism, because neoliberalism, as the name suggests, is a new form of liberalism.. engchi. For liberalism, the most important are democratic peace and interdependence, specifically economic interdependence. Liberalism started as a reaction to the critique of a feudal political rule and the foreign political strategy during 17th and 18th centuries (Jørgensen, 2010; Klein, 2014). Liberalism can be described by following characteristics: the first characteristic is “human reason”, by the reason humans can shape and understand the nature and society, so humans can shape their destiny and international relations, according to liberals, shaping the nature and society is influenced by human rationalism; the second characteristic is a belief in possible and desirable reform of international relations; the third characteristic is that domestic and international politics are linked together, therefore, they should not be studied separately; the fourth characteristic is the idea that as economic interdependence.

(26) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 14. among states increases, probability of conflict or war between them reduces; the last characteristic is that process of institutionalizing international relations has a positive effect (Jackson & Sørensen, 2003; Jørgensen, 2010; Martinez & Garcia, 1997). Neoliberalism is suitable for the current research of Czech-China relations because the current cooperation between those two countries is heavily depending on the economic exchange. Neoliberalists argue that for prosperous foreign relations, there should be a good economic cooperation. Therefore, how much Czech-China foreign relations depend on solely economic cooperation will be further examined in this research.. 政治大. The term neoliberalism is often connected to something negative that governments are forced to do in order to keep up with the modern political and. 立. economic order. World Bank and International Monetary Fund are basically seen as. ‧ 國. 學. the major actor in the world economy when perceived from the neoliberal perspective (Martinez & Garcia, 1997; Keohane, 1984; Jackson & Sørensen, 2003).. ‧. Neoliberalism is a new liberalism, when “old” liberalist ideas were revised over past 25 years; neoliberalism encourages free market, free trade, no price control;. y. Nat. sit. five main points as a definition of neoliberalism are: the rule of the market, cutting. al. er. io. public expenditure for social services, deregulation, privatization, and eliminating the. n. concept of “the public good” or “community” (Martinez & Garcia, 1997; Thorsen & Lie, 2010).. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. For some scholars, it is not arguable that domestic politics influence international relations and vice versa; the leader might act in his best interest as well as in the best interest of his country (Keohane ,1984; Putnam, 1988; Jørgensen, 2010). That can occur, for instance, when a leader believes that a particular (trade) agreement will boost domestic economy, as well as it will strengthen relations with the other country. On this example, Putnam (1988) confirms the neoliberal theory that if economic cooperation is improving, overall relations with the country improve too, but his main point was that the reason why leaders are actively engaged in foreign politics is not only to improve foreign relations but also to positively impact domestic politics. The fact that foreign economic policy influences domestic policy is an important factor that supports the intention of this research to focus on foreign.

(27) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 15. relations between Czech and China with examining political acts, made especially by Presidents, connected to those with economic content. In international regimes, we examine rules and regulations that are established between countries. There need to be rules to maintain sustainability and order. For neoliberalism, those rules are concerning economic cooperation and their aim is to maintain the prosperity of the economic world. As Ruggie argues “[…] if economic capabilities are so concentrated that a hegemon exists […], an “open” or “liberal” international economic order will come into being” (Ruggie, 1982, p.381). In this research, China is considered as a stronger state; in the meaning of a hegemon that is mentioned by Ruggie (1982); in relation to Czech, eventually to countries of the. 政治大 relation to Czech, it should be rather called an economic predominance. In such order 立 Visegrád group. However, this research does not suggest that China is a hegemon in. there still is present an existence of authorities, but their main function is to help to. ‧ 國. 學. strengthen their position on the international market and not to intervene too much to the whole mechanism; to support strengthening position, government can for instance. ‧. invest more to education or training policies helping improving labor skills (Görg &. y. Nat. Greenaway, 2004; Ruggie, 1982). Ruggie (1982) also suggests that aforementioned. sit. theory considers only economic interest, not social aspect; however, this is not. al. er. io. entirely correct, therefore, there is a need to redefine liberalism in relation to the. n. v i n beginning of this chapter – ifCwe economic order, or hlook e natgthec international hi U. economic international order. This theory leads us back to what was suggested in the. specifically economic cooperation between two countries, we have to look at it from the overall perspective, when not only economic but also social and political aspects are considered. Taken that in consideration, the theory that if economic cooperation is being prosperous, overall relations between same two countries should improve too, can be confirmed. Cooperation between states is important to be examined and defined in terms of prosperity. Keohane says that states establish institutions in order to cooperate. Some scholars define people act rationally, their decisions are made based on their personal interests. Keohane argues that people do not act only as individuals, their decisions depend on institutions or others as well. If we take an example of states – states want to attain bigger power, they care about a personal gain, their international.

(28) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 16. interests also depend on their domestic interests. Because where else would states want to gain the biggest power in the first place – in the domestic field. From that, we can see a reason for linking foreign relations to domestic affairs. However, this description does not mean that one party / country acts solely in personal interest. Neoliberalism is described as a non-zero-sum game. In the case of a zero-sum game, only one side can win. In a non-zero-sum game scenario, if we take an example of economic cooperation between two countries – if one side’s economy grows rapidly, but other side’s economy grows less, there is still an increase on both sides. Neoliberal idea of economy stands for gain on both sides, if both sides value their personal growth equally, then they both benefit from their mutual cooperation – this. 政治大. can be called non-zero-sum game.. 立. METHODOLOGY. ‧ 國. 學. 1.6.. ‧. For this qualitative study, primary data will be collected from structured and unstructured texts through archival research. Data analysis is done with using already. sit. y. Nat. existing approaches by Czech scholars that are applied to a new data in accordance with the neoliberal theory. I chose this methodology as the most suitable to be able to. io. n. al. er. answer my research questions and show evidence whether hypotheses can be confirmed.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. 1.6.1. DATA COLLECTION Data collection is conducted using scholarly research and archival research with the National Chengchi University online databases, such as Jstor, Elsevier, or Central and Eastern European Online Library. For primary data, I will use structured texts, such as government documents retrieved from the official websites of the Czech government, databases, journal articles, scholarly work on related topics. For secondary data, I will use unstructured texts, which will mostly be government officials’ interviews and speeches that will make the research more accurate and relevant. For the economic part of the research, data provided primarily by the Czech.

(29) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 17. government and the Czech statistical office will be used. The intention is to have a narrow research field so that a thorough examination can be performed.. 1.6.2. DATA ANALYSIS To analyze and interpret my results, I will use specific theoretical perspectives in order to analyze data and explain observed facts. Those theoretical perspectives were made by scholars that have an advanced experience in Czech-China relations or Czech foreign politics, as well as by scholars focusing on neoliberal approaches.. 政治大 carefully and thoroughly in order to provide a background for further data analysis. 立 To analyze data, I will use current articles written by recognized and relevant serious Literature research of primary and secondary sources will be done very. ‧ 國. 學. newspapers, as well as other related researches. I will also evaluate data with a help of the previous research done on the Czech-China relations and other work examining. ‧. related topics will be used. Data will be also used to create graphs that demonstrate the development of economic exchange between Czech and China.. y. Nat. sit. One of the most significant Czech researchers dealing with China issues is. al. er. io. Rudolf Fürst. Rudolf Fürst is a Research Fellow in International Research Institute,. n. v i n C h Both of his works People’s Republic of China relations. e n g c h i U Česko-čínské vztahy: Od Prague. His specialization is China, Czech-China relations, or European Unionbezradnosti k aktivní politice (2004) and Czech Perceptions of China: Between. Matter-of-Factness and Imagination, Between Orientalism and Occidentalism (2005) provide a thorough description of the political relationship between the Czech Republic and the People’s Republic of China. Fürst also explains some economic issues between those two countries. Fürst’s work is crucial for examining CzechChina relationship, therefore, both of aforementioned studies will be used as a secondary literature. Those two studies will provide a material for a comparison of new data researched in this paper and already existing evaluation of Czech-China relations after that new data will be analyzed based on Fürst’s approach and neoliberal perspective. Fürst’s work provides certain guidelines how to examine Czech-China relations..

(30) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 18. Czech Foreign Ministry and other Czech government bodies provide full statements of government officials and reports, which are much needed while researching foreign policy of the Czech Republic. To understand Czech-China foreign relations, data provided by Czech Foreign Ministry are sufficient for those who look for raw data with no further analysis. This research is trying to complement provided data with a possible explanation based on other supporting literature. Sources used for the analysis of data provided by the Czech government are online articles that deal with topics related to each particular government report or data. Those online articles are mainly retrieved from the Czech News Agency, PraguePost, Hospodářské noviny (Economic Newspapers) or Parlamentní listy (Parliament. 治政大 government officials. Foreign Czech specialists and public, as well as interviews with 立 online websites such as the Diplomat or the Economist are used during analyzing to 學. ‧ 國. Newspapers). These online newspapers provide relevant and serious opinions of. provide a wider spectrum of the way of presenting the Czech-China foreign relations and analyses of other specialists.. ‧. Pick and Handl in their book Zahraniční politika České republiky 1993-2004:. y. Nat. Úspěchy, problémy a perspektivy (2004) describe nature of the Czech foreign. sit. politics. Pick and Handle created this book as a collection of sections written by. al. er. io. various authors. They examine successes, problems and perspectives of the Czech. n. v i n C hThey focus on Czech examine Czech foreign politics. e n g c h i U foreign politics globally, their Republic in the international field. Pick and Handl provide a good structure how to. examined topics are security, neighboring countries, industrial cooperation, or human rights. In the chapter about approaches towards selected partners and regions Pick and Handl specifically talk about the United States, Russia, and China. There have not been written any similar book in the Czech environment focusing on the later time period. I believe that Pick and Handl made a great contribution to the scholarly work about Czech foreign politics, and also Czech-China foreign relations; however, I see a missed opportunity in describing the later development, especially of Czech-China relations while focusing more on economic cooperation and attempts of its strengthening. Pick and Handl’s work will be used for analyzing recent official data collected after the book was published and that are relevant to their work’s research..

(31) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 19. Combination of new data and already existing knowledge on Czech-China relations will provide more accurate analysis.. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v.

(32) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 20. CHAPTER 2: POLITICAL COOPERATION. 2.1.. OVERVIEW In 1919 official recognition between Czechoslovakia and China took place,. China was recognized as the Republic of China. In 1930 official relations between. 政治大. Czechoslovakia and China were established, Czechoslovakia and the Republic of China signed an agreement about a mutual cooperation. One year later, the first. 立. Czechoslovakian embassy was opened in Shanghai. In 1933 the Chinese embassy. ‧ 國. 學. opened its office in Prague. Both, Shanghai and Prague offices were closed in 1939 when the occupation of Czechoslovakia started, official relations between Republic of China and Czechoslovakia were suspended. Relations were re-established in 1941,. ‧. the embassy was re-opened in 1944. On October 4th, 1949 Czechoslovakia, as one of. sit. y. Nat. the first countries, officially recognized the People’s Republic of China as the only Chinese government and suspended relations with Kuomintang at the same time. In. io. n. al. er. 1993 the People’s Republic of China recognized the Czech Republic as a sovereign independent country.. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. China was maintaining good relations with Czech side until 1989. After that, there was an obvious cooling down of mutual relations and no tries from the Chinese side to strengthen them. To support that, Pick (2004) provides following facts: The last Chinese high-level official who visited Czech was Zhao Ziyang in 1987; Czech Premiers visited China several times – Čalfa3 in 1991, Klaus in 1994, Zeman in 1999. Klaus went to China again in 2004; however, that time as the Czech President. Zeman as well visited China as the Czech President; it was in 2014 and 2015. It has been 28 years since when the last Chinese official came to Czech; as we will discuss in the following paragraph; the year 2016 seems to be promising in this matter.. Marián Čalfa visited China in 1991 as the Premier of Czechoslovakia. Čafla was a Slovakian, but after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia he remained in Prague, Czech Republic. 3.

(33) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 21. During Havel presidency, people were very actively engaged in politics, they were interested mostly in domestic politics, but they were also more aware of foreign politics. The reason for it was that when Havel became a President of the Czech Republic in 1993, the country was a “brand new”. After the soviet occupation, people were enthusiastic about their new democratic country. As many could expect, after democratization, people as a society were leaning towards democratic thinking, equality, and human rights. Because the President, as well as the society, had strong feelings for democracy after the establishment of the new democratic country - the goal they successfully fought for, there was a relative lack of interest in strengthening relations with those countries, which did not share and honor same values. Fürst. 治政大 was working in the full because back then everything was politicized and propaganda 立 force. Another problem that he mentions is that there is not enough study about China (2005) argues that attitudes towards Chinese in Czechoslovakia are hard to trace. ‧ 國. 學. done during the Czechoslovakia period. For this reason, it is very difficult to make any comparative study in a range more than 20 years. Even nowadays there are not. ‧. many scholars in the Czech Republic who are producing work focused on political or economic aspects of Czech-China relations. After the revolution in 1989 and the. y. Nat. sit. establishment of the Czech Republic in 1993, Czech people under a new democratic. al. er. io. wave focus more on the freedom and human rights. Havel, as an influential person. n. not only for the Czech politics but also for the Czech society, did believe that. Ch. i n U. v. democracy and human rights are more important than good foreign relations with a. engchi. bigger and stronger country. It is apparent that currently the Czech Republic is experiencing the completely different environment. After 1993 we can trace various criticism of China. Fürst’s (2005) findings show that even then, there was a big group of supporters of China, especially among businessmen; some of them became politicians in Czech ministries or involved in Czech diplomacy. People, who already had established their connection in China before the Czechoslovakia’s peaceful dissolution, were fond of China. There are no doubts that China had its supporters in Czechoslovakia before 1989, and it would be easy for the same people to keep favoring China even after 1989 resp. 1993, especially if those people remained influential. Novák (2001) talks about the change of political regime in Czechoslovakia and about forming of political parties and the.

(34) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 22. political situation in 1991, from his article it is obvious that often the same people remained on relatively similarly powerful posts even after the aforementioned period. It is, therefore, very likely that China had the very same supporters in Czechoslovakia as later in the Czech Republic. As the years went by, the Czech society became used to the status quo, democracy was not any longer something people would have to fight for, it became something that was there with no efforts needed. During past few years, the society sees the importance in a wellbeing maintained through money. It is important for the society to have a country, which can establish trade and economic ties with other preferably richer countries. Czech now sees the opportunity, besides others, in China.. 政治大 economic cooperation is prosperous, other spheres of Czech-China relations are also 立 As neoliberalists suggest, economic cooperation comes in the first place. As soon as. very positive in terms of sustainability and growth. As mentioned before, it is a. ‧ 國. 學. current goal of the Czech government body to boost an economic cooperation with China, as well as to maintain and improve overall political relations.. ‧. About the more current situation, Fürst (2005) describes the Czech view of. Nat. sit. y. China positively as people are fascinated by the development. Especially supporters. io. er. of the Communist Party of Czech and Moravia (KSČM) see China as the model of possible future of non-democratic industrially developed country. Now, the situation. n. al. i n U. v. seems even more extreme, when Czech’s business interest in China increases. But the. Ch. engchi. conclusion made by Fürst (2005) more than 10 years ago is not entirely applicable anymore. There is a raising criticism of China among Czechs; however, as I see it, this criticism does not come from a particular dislike of China, but more likely of increasing dislike of domestic politics in Czech. There is a trend among Czech public that whoever government favors, people become more aware of that country and a common dislike will spread. During Klaus presidency, Czechs most certainly experienced dislike towards the United States and the President was often blamed for being too influenced by America. Now, the situation seems very similar to me – people recently expressed dislike towards China and blame President Zeman playing a too submissive role in the Czech-China relationship. That leaves the question whether it really is the foreign country Czech people are unsatisfied with, or if it is the domestic government..

(35) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 23. While Fürst(2005) evaluates the situation after 2000 and closer to 2005, Pick and Handl (2004) took a closer look at years after 1998. In 1998 the resolution about the human rights violation in China and Tibet was accepted by the Czech Senate. Pick and Handl (2004) point out that afterward, Chinese politicians protested against the resolution in the Foreign Senate Committee. In 1990 President Václav Havel invited Dalai Lama to visit Czechoslovakia, Dalai Lama realized his very first visit. As the answer to that happening, China officially protests against the visit (Pick & Handl, 2004). Obviously, the Czech Republic did not take protesting Beijing very seriously, Dalai Lama was invited to Czech again in 1997, 2000, and 2002; every time Dalai Lama met with the Czech President Václav Havel. Following visits in 2003 and 2006. 治政大 Lama and ex-President Václav Lama, the meeting was again appointed between Dalai 立 Havel. In 2008, Dalai Lama during his visit meets the Czech Premier Mirek were less official because the new President Václav Klaus did not meet with Dalai. ‧ 國. 學. Topolánek, same as in 2009. In 2011 Dalai Lama comes to Czech to meet with Václav Havel, who dies one week later. The 10th latest visit was in 2013; that time. ‧. Dalai Lama does not meet the current Czech President Miloš Zeman (Jurkovič, 2013). On the example of Dalai Lama’s visits to Czech, we can clearly see the change of. Nat. sit. y. Czech politics’ position towards China’s domestic issues. Tibet issue has been far. al. er. io. more discussed in Czech environment, compared to the Taiwan issue, and we can see. n. that Czech politicians and public often connect those two. If a current government. Ch. i n U. v. favors Tibet and supports its future independence, the same argument often applies to. engchi. Taiwan. That is a reason why Václav Havel was highly appreciated in Taiwan; and the same reason applies to the situation with the current President who believes that Taiwan, as well as Tibet, should remain under China’s control. This topic is further discussed in chapters STRENGTHENING TIES and THE TAIWAN ISSUE..

(36) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 2.2.. 24. CHINA’S SOFT POWER IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC To increase influence in other countries, the People’s Republic of China. (PRC) is using many tools, one of them is China’s soft power. As one of the important soft power tools China is using the concept called “Confucius institute”. The very first Confucius institute was established in 2004 in Seoul, South Korea. Confucius institute is a non-profit organization. “Hanban, or the Chinese National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, which is responsible for the Confucius Institute program as well as the China Bridge competition, gathered speed quickly. In 2006, a new institute was established every four days and Hanban hopes. 治政大is often created through her because China is increasingly powerful and her image military and economic 立 power, a more favorable tool, which is also friendlier towards to have 1,000 institutes by 2020” (Volodzko, 2015). As Paradise (2009) argues,. ‧ 國. 學. other countries was much needed. Paradise (2009) also states that China uses Confucius institute project to help to explain their aims and goals, to foster the. ‧. perception of China’s peaceful development and to provide larger transparency about China’s acting.. y. Nat. sit. In 2007 was established the Confucius institute in the Czech city Olomouc.. al. er. io. Since then, Confucius institute called “Konfuciova akademie” provides people the. n. v i n COlomouc classes, Confucius institute in conducts training for new Chinese h e n galso chi U opportunity to study the Chinese language in Czech. Except providing Chinese. language teachers in the Czech Republic. Those teachers help to promote Chinese culture in Czech environment, especially through playing Chinese movies or offering various speeches; this very particular institute also provides educational and business consulting (Konfuciova akademie, 2015). Everything, what Confucius institute provides, is offered not only to the university students but also to the public or scholars. To support Confucius institute in Olomouc, China provided $100,000 USD, 3,000 books and teaching materials (Konfuciova akademie, 2015). Confucius institute is indeed a very positive step forward in Czech-China relations; however, if China aims to have 1,000 institutes by 2020, it is obvious that in this particular plan Czech is not any special. This institute is only to promote China, not for China to gain any knowledge about the Czech Republic..

(37) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 25. If Czech businessmen want to succeed in the Chinese market, one of the important much-needed skills is a knowledge of the Chinese language and Chinese culture and environment. However, it did not seem that Czech businesses are using a service of the Confucius institute very much, I have not discovered any record of it. I suggest that they prefer already existing platforms and services provided or recommended by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for instance, CzechTrade, Embassy of the Czech Republic in Shanghai and Beijing, or the EU project with an aim to help small and medium businesses entering China’s market. These institutions supported by Czech government or the European Union probably seem more reliable to businessmen. Also, besides the Confucius institute, other Czech Universities offer. 政治大. various programs that include Chinese language classes and other related courses.. 立. THE TAIWAN ISSUE. ‧ 國. 學. 2.3.. ‧. The Formosa island or Taiwan, further in the research referred as Taiwan, has been an issue for China and her relationship with other countries for a long time.. y. Nat. sit. The Republic of China, originally based in the Mainland China, officially. al. er. io. recognized Czechoslovakia in 1919. In 1930 Czechoslovakia and the Republic of. n. China signed an agreement about a mutual cooperation. In 1939 official relations. Ch. i n U. v. between the Republic of China and Czechoslovakia were suspended, the World War. engchi. II started. Relations were re-established in 1941, the embassy was re-opened in 1944. On October 4th, 1949 Czechoslovakia officially recognized the People’s Republic of China, based in the Mainland China, as the only Chinese government and suspended relations with Kuomintang, which was based in Taiwan, in the same time. As the ministry of the Czech Republic states: Relationship between the Czech Republic and Republic of China in Taiwan was re-established after democratic changes in the end of the 20th century. However, newly re-established relations are unofficial and nongovernmental. For the cooperation between Taiwan and Czech, there is the Taipei Economic and Cultural office in Prague, which was established in 1992 and the Czech Economic and Cultural office in Taipei established in 1993. So far, the Czech Republic and Taiwan have signed 19 bilateral agreements. The Czech Republic.

(38) THE DEVELOPMENT OF CZECH-CHINA RELATIONS. 26. established economic ties with Taiwan, and as we can see so far, it does not harm economic cooperation between the Czech Republic and the People’s Republic of China, in fact, both, Czech-China and Czech-Taiwan economic cooperation have been recently improving. China could put some obstacles for Czech to cooperate with her and force Czech businessmen not to interact with Taiwan, but as we can see so far, this is not the case. Taipei Representative Office in EU and Belgium (2013) reported that the trade between the Czech Republic and Taiwan increased from 2004 to 2012; the growth rate in 2012 in comparison with 2004 was 180.8%. “From the period starting from its accession to the EU in 2004 – 2012, the Czech Republic alone attracted nearly as many investors as Germany (about 3.4% of total investment from. 治政大 This is the evidence of continuously strengthening cooperation between Czech and 立 Taiwan. On the other hand, Czech and China relations are also more and more. Taiwan into the EU)” (Taipei Representative Office in EU and Belgium, 2013, p. 6).. ‧ 國. 學. positive.. The Czech Republic does not recognize Taiwan as a country; however, there. ‧. are many other ways how Czech and Taiwan boost their mutual relations. For. y. Nat. example, Taiwan passport holders can enjoy 90-days visa-free entry to the Czech. sit. Republic. In 2011 it was a big step forward when a visa-free entry was introduced.. al. er. io. From January 11th, 2011 Taiwanese people are encouraged to visit the Czech. n. v i n and complicated paperwork.C Taiwanese holders are still required to register h e n gpassport hi U c at the Czech Immigration Police Station after their arrival to Czech (Czech Foreign. Republic, as well as other countries within the Schengen area with no need for a visa. Ministry, 2015). The current Czech President certainly favors Chinese part of the Taiwan Strait4, unlike the former President Václav Havel, who was considered as a big supporter of democracy and a friend of Taiwan. After his death on December 18th, 2011, Taiwanese scholars expressed their condolences and also provided some remarks about Havel expressed by Cheng Chin-mo, director of the Department of Global Political Economy at Tamkang University:. 4. Taiwan Strait or Formosa Strait is a strait that separates the island of Taiwan and the Mainland China..