Czech Speaker Receives International Support in Response to China’s Threat Over Taiwan Visit

Czech senate president Milos Vystrcil delivers a speech at the main chamber of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, Taiwan, on Sept. 1, 2020. Ann Wang/Reuters

After the head of the Czech Senate said “I am a Taiwanese'” in a speech at Taiwan’s parliament on Tuesday, a throwback to the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s defiance of communism in Berlin in 1963, China slammed him for crossing a red line.

China, which claims democratic Taiwan as its own territory, has threatened to make Czech Senate speaker Milos Vystrcil pay a “heavy price” for visiting the island. The Czech Republic, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.