The mayor of the Czech capital Prague, Zdenek Hrib, vowed Friday to further strengthen exchanges with Taipei, noting that the partnership is non-political and mutually beneficial.
The two capital cities established sister-city relations on Jan. 13, prompting the determination of a Prague-Shanghai sister-city partnership next day.
In October 2019, Beijing cut its sister-city ties with Prague as Hrib expressed concerns over the “One-China” article in the partnership agreement.
“We wanted to have non-political cooperation with our partnership cities and that was the reason why we tried to negotiate some of our previous partnership agreements,’’ Hrib said at a joint news conference with Taipei Mayor, Ko Wen-je, on Friday.
On the last day of the Czech delegation’s visit, Hrib issued a joint statement with Ko about future cooperation in a number of fields, ranging from combating COVID-19 to animal conservation, education and cultural exchanges as well as smart cities and start-up innovations.
Hrib also announced that the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra is scheduled tour to Taiwan in October next year.
The Czech orchestra’s scheduled tour to China in 2020 was unilaterally cancelled by Beijing last year over the escalating “One-China” principle dispute.
The visit of an 89-member Czech delegation led by Senate President Milos Vystrcil ends on Friday.
China had previously warned Vystrcil the country would pay a “heavy price” for the visit.
The Czech Republic does not have formal relations with Taiwan.
Taiwan has had an independent government since 1949, but China considers the democratic island part of its territory.
Edited By: Abdulfatah Babatunde (NAN)
