The

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

(officially the Republic of China) maintain strong unofficial relations. In the absence of official diplomatic relations, the Czech Republic is represented by the Czech Economic and Cultural Office in

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

, and Taiwan by the

Taipei Economic and Cultural Office The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), also known as Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO), Taipei Representative Office (TRO) or Taipei Mission, is an alternative diplomatic institution serving as a ''de facto'' e ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Diplomatic exchanges

In 1994, Czech Republic Minister of the Economy

Karel Dyba Karel Dyba (21 October 1940 – 22 July 2024) was a Czech economist, politician and diplomat. He served as a Czech Republic government minister during the 1990s under Prime Ministers Petr Pithart and Václav Klaus. He served the Czech Republic's ...

became the first sitting government minister to visit Taiwan.

Jaroslav Kubera Jaroslav Kubera (16 February 1947 – 20 January 2020) was a Czech politician for the Civic Democratic Party, who served in the Czech Senate representing Teplice from 2000 and the Senate President from 2018 until his death in 2020. He previous ...

President of the Senate of the Czech Republic The president of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic () is the Speaker (politics), presiding officer of the Senate of the Czech Republic, Senate, the upper house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic and also the second-highest-r ...

, planned a visit to Taipei prior to his death, prompting threats of retaliation from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Kubera's successor,

Miloš Vystrčil Miloš Vystrčil (, born 10 August 1960) is a Czech Republic, Czech politician serving as the President of the Senate of the Czech Republic, President of the Senate since 2020 and Senate of the Czech Republic, Senator from Jihlava District, Jihla ...

, however, led a delegation to Taiwan that arrived in Taipei on August 31, 2020. While there, Vystrčil gave a speech, declaring "I am a Taiwanese," echoing John F. Kennedy's famous "I am a Berliner" speech. The People's Republic of China said that Vystrčil would "pay a heavy price" for visiting what it considers to be a "renegade province". Meanwhile, the President of the Czech Republic

Miloš Zeman Miloš Zeman (; born 28 September 1944) is a Czech politician who served as the third president of the Czech Republic from 2013 to 2023. He also previously served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic from 1998 to 2002. As leader of the Cze ...

said of the trip that “I consider it boyish provocation.” In late October 2021, Taiwan's foreign minister

Joseph Wu Wu Jaushieh (; born October 31, 1954), also known by his English name Joseph Wu, is a Taiwanese political scientist and diplomat currently serving as secretary-general of the National Security Council since 2024. He was formerly the foreign mi ...

received a medal from the President of the Czech Senate Miloš Vystrčil. In July 2022, You Si-kun, the President of the Taiwan's Legislative Yuan, led a delegation to visit the Czech Republic. He also delivered a speech at the Czech Senate, declaring "I am Taiwanese; I am Czech, because we are both believers of democracy." Ties appeared to deepen in 2023 when Czech Republic's

President-elect An ''officer-elect'' is a person who has been elected to a position but has not yet been installed. Notably, a president who has been elected but not yet installed would be referred to as a ''president-elect'' (e.g. president-elect of the Un ...

Petr Pavel Petr Pavel (; born 1 November 1961) is a Czech politician and retired army general, currently serving as the president of the Czech Republic since March 2023. Prior to this, he held the position of Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 2 ...

spoke with Taiwan's President

Tsai Ing-wen Tsai Ing-wen (; pinyin: ''Cài Yīngwén''; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician and legal scholar who served as the seventh president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2016 to 2024. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party ...

. In March a 150-member delegation headed by

President of the Chamber of Deputies President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsidente ...

Markéta Pekarová Adamová Markéta Pekarová Adamová (born 2 October 1984) is a Czech Republic, Czech politician who is the President of the Chamber of Deputies (Czech Republic), President of the Chamber of Deputies since 2021 and leader of TOP 09 since 2019. She has bee ...

visited Taiwan. In June

Hsu Tzong-li Hsu Tzong-li (; born 10 February 1956) is a Taiwanese jurist who served as the Chief Justice ( President of the Judicial Yuan) of Taiwan from 2016 to 2024. Academic career Hsu studied at National Taiwan University and later, in 1986, obtained ...

, the President of Taiwan's

Judicial Yuan The Judicial Yuan () is the Judiciary, judicial branch of the Republic of China.''See'' Constitution arts. 77-82, ''available at'' ''See'' Additional Articles of the Constitution art. 5, ''available at'' It functions as the Constitutional Cour ...

, visited the Czech Republic and met with his counterpart

Pavel Rychetsky Pavel ( Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian: Павел; Czech, Slovene, and (although Romanian also uses Paul); ; ; ) is a male given name. It is a Slavic cognate of the name Paul (derived from the Greek Pavlos). Pavel may refer to: People Given ...

, the President of the

Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic () is the Supreme court, supreme constitutional Judiciary of the Czech Republic, court in the Czech Republic and the ''de facto'' highest and most powerful court in the land. It has its basis in ...

. In March 2024, Taiwanese vice president-elect

Hsiao Bi-khim Hsiao Bi-khim (born Bi-khim Louise Hsiao; 7 August 1971) is a Taiwanese politician and diplomat who has been the 13th and current vice president of the Republic of China since 2024, serving under President Lai Ching-te. She is Taiwan's first bi ...

was invited by think tank Sinopsis to visit the Czech Republic. She stopped in Prague following a trip to the United States and met with Miloš Vystrčil. In October 2024, former Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen visited the Czech Republic and delivered a speech at the

Forum 2000 Forum 2000 is a foundation and conference of the same name held in Prague, Czech Republic. The Forum 2000 Foundation was founded in 1996 as a joint initiative of the Czech President Václav Havel, Japanese philanthropist Yohei Sasakawa, and N ...

, during which she met with

Czech president The president of the Czech Republic, constitutionally defined as the President of the Republic (), is the head of state of the Czech Republic and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic. The presidency has largely bee ...

Petr Pavel, Czech Senate president Miloš Vystrčil, and president of the Chamber of Deputies Markéta Pekarová.

Trade and economic relations

Taiwanese

electronics manufacturer The electronics industry is the industry that produces electronic devices. It emerged in the 20th century and is today one of the largest global industries. Contemporary society uses a vast array of electronic devices that are built in factories o ...

Foxconn Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (), Trade name, doing business as Hon Hai Technology Group () in Taiwan, Foxconn Technology Group () in China, and Foxconn () internationally, is a Taiwanese multinational corporation, multinational electron ...

runs its largest European operations in the Czech Republic, the company's European Union (EU) hub. The subsidiary, named Foxconn CZ, is by profit one of largest companies in the Czech Republic. In August 2020, Czech Senate President

traveled to Taiwan on an official visit to "promote business links" between the two countries. As part of the Business Opportunities Promotion Plan,

CzechInvest CzechInvest is the Investment promotion agency, Investment and Business Development Agency of the Czech Republic established in 1992 by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (Czech Republic), Ministry of Industry and Trade. The agency contributes ...

opened its Taipei office in May 2024, and the Czech Centre Taipei held its ceremony in June. In August-September 2024, Taiwanese

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

secretary-general

led a delegation to the GLOBSEC Forum held in Prague. He stated in a news conference that Taiwan was planning a semiconductor cluster in the Czech Republic. Separately in Taipei, the National Development Council made a statement that the Czech Chamber of Deputies proposed providing tax incentives to support Taiwanese investments in the Czech semiconductor industry. In September 2024, the Taiwanese foreign ministry announced a joint Czech-Taiwanese semiconductor research center. The bilateral initiative includes a supply chain research center jointly managed by

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

and

National Chengchi University National Chengchi University () is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. First established in Nanjing in 1927, the university was subsequently reestablished in 1954 in Taiwan as the first reestablished "National University". The u ...

. Taiwanese economic minister

J.W. Kuo Kuo Jyh-huei (; born 7 February 1953) is a Taiwanese business executive and politician who currently serves as Taiwan's Minister of Economic Affairs since 2024. Early life and education Kuo was born in Pingtung County. In his first sales job a ...

visited the Czech Republic in December 2024 to promote industrial cooperation between the two countries. He witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding pledging to set up a trade and investment service hub in Prague, and he met with Senate President Vystrčil and other officials to discuss bilateral economic exchanges.

Humanitarian aid

In 2022, following the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, the Taiwanese government donated US$1 million to Czech nonprofit group

People in Need People in Need (PIN; ) is a Czech nonprofit, non-governmental organisation based in Prague, Czech Republic. PIN implements Humanitarian Aid, humanitarian relief and long term Development aid, development projects, educational programmes, and huma ...

to provide services and assistance to displaced Ukrainian children in the Czech Republic. In February 2025, People in Need and the Taiwanese foreign ministry signed a memorandum of understanding to assist Ukrainian refugees in the Czech Republic. The memorandum established a joint project in which People in Need would provide shelter for young Ukrainians fleeing the ongoing

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

Sports

In the lead-up to the

2024 WBSC Premier12 The 2024 WBSC Premier12 was the 3rd edition of the WBSC Premier12, a baseball championship featuring the 12 highest-ranked national teams in the world, held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). Originally scheduled for 2023, but de ...

, the national teams of the two countries played two warm-up games at Taipei Dome. As friendly gestures, Czech player Marek Chlup walked onto the field draped in the Taiwanese flag, while Taiwanese captain Chen Chieh-hsien carried the Czech flag.

Public health cooperation

In March 2020, the Czech Republic and Taiwan signed an official partnership to fight

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, the first such agreement signed by Taiwan. In April 2021, Taiwan's foreign ministry thanked the Czech Republic for supporting Taiwan's bid to participate in

World Health Assembly The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the forum through which the World Health Organization (WHO) is governed by its 194 World Health Organization#Membership, member states. It is the world's highest health policy setting body and is composed of h ...

. The Czech Senate unanimously passed a resolution calling for Taiwan to take part in all divisions of the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

. It's the first time such a motion has progressed in a legislative chamber in the country. After the

2021 South Moravia tornado In the evening hours of June 24, 2021, a rare, violent, and deadly long-tracked tornado struck several villages in the Hodonín District, Hodonín and Břeclav District, Břeclav districts of the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic, kil ...

, Taiwan donated 6.5 million

Czech koruna The koruna, or crown (sign: Kč; code: CZK, ), has been the currency of the Czech Republic since 1993. The koruna is one of the European Union's eight currencies, and the Czech Republic is legally bound to adopt the euro in the future. The ...

to the affected villages. In August 2021, Taiwan received 30,000 doses of

Moderna vaccine The Moderna COVID19 vaccine, sold under the brand name Spikevax, is a COVID-19 vaccine developed by the American company Moderna, the United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and the Biomedical Advanced ...

donated by Czech Republic.

Prague–Taipei relations

In August 1968, the Republic of China (Taiwan) was among the ten members of the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

to condemn the

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia On 20–21 August 1968, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four fellow Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, and the Hungarian People's Republic. The ...

led by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, the latter of whom opposed the resolution. In 2019, Czech Republic–Taiwan relations warmed when the

city council under Mayor

Zdeněk Hřib Zdeněk Hřib (born 21 May 1981) is a Czech healthcare manager and politician, who has served as chair of the Czech Pirate Party since November 2024, and served as the Mayor of Prague from November 2018 to February 2023. Initially a physicia ...

voted to cancel sister city relations with

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

due to the unwillingness of Beijing to renegotiate the inclusion of a "

One-China policy ''One China'' is a phrase describing the relationship between the People's Republic of China (PRC) based on mainland China, and the Republic of China (ROC) based on the Taiwan Area. "One China" asserts that there is only one ''de jure'' C ...

" clause. While respecting the policy itself, Prague deemed inappropriate to express national policy in a sister city agreement. On January 13, 2020, Prague and Taipei became sister cities.Taipei's Sister Cities
.

References

External links

Czech Economic and Cultural OfficeTaipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Czech Republic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taiwan-Czech Republic relations

Bilateral relations of the Czech Republic