China criticizes Czech Republic for accepting Taiwainese medical aid

Prague, April 19 (CTK) – The Chinese deputy ambassador to Prague several times addressed the Czech government to criticize Czech representatives for accepting medical aid provided by Taiwan, the weekly Respekt writes in its latest issue.

Taiwan donated tens of thousands of face masks and 25 medical ventilators to the Czech Republic.

Respekt writes that the Chinese diplomat criticized Senate chairman Miloš Vystrčil (Civic Democrats, ODS) for taking part in the donation of Taiwanese face masks earlier this week. He also criticized the fact that Taiwan is mentioned in Czech Health Ministry materials about the spread of the virus in countries over the world.

Chinese ambassador to Prague Zhang Jianmin previously protested at the Czech Foreign Ministry against the launching of Czech-Taiwanese expert cooperation in research and medical technologies in connection with the epidemic.

“China criticizes the contact of top Czech officials with Taiwanese representatives, most recently the audience with the Senate chairman. However, China did not challenge the fact that Taiwan provided aid to us in form of medical material,” Respekt quotes Czech Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Stichova as saying.

Stichova said the Foreign Ministry welcomes the Taiwanese aid and appreciates it.

The Czech government bought several million face masks and other personal protective equipment from China and Chinese firms, cities and provinces gave it further equipment for free.

Mainland China considers Taiwan its rebel province. However, Taiwan has been practically independent since 1949, having its own government and a democratic regime. Like most countries in the world, the Czech Republic respects the One-China policy, which means that it recognizes only mainland China.