PRAGUE: The Chinese government threatened to retaliate against leading Czech companies if a senior Czech official made good on a planned visit to Taiwan, according to a diplomatic message reviewed by Reuters.
The chairman of the Czech Republic’s upper house of parliament, Kubera was the second-most senior official in the country after President Milos Zeman. The debate was made moot when Kubera died unexpectedly on Jan 20, ahead of the planned trip, but the letter reveals how explicit Beijing had been about who would suffer if the visit went forward.
The letter said that “China is the largest foreign market for many Czech companies like Skoda Auto, Home Credit Group, Klaviry Petrof and others.”