On this episode of China Uncensored,
how the Chinese regime is using
the Czech Republic to infiltrate
the rest of Europe.
Hi, welcome to China Uncensored.
I’m your host, Chris Chappell.
The Czech Republic.
Home to the world’s highest per-capita
beer consumption,
and the world’s best-slash-worst
pun-based T-shirts.
The Czech Republic is also
the most successful post-communist country
in central Europe.
Unlike some other post-Soviet nations,
the Czech Republic—
or Czechia,
as nobody calls it—
has a vibrant growing economy.
And let's be real.
The Czech people never liked
the Soviets anyway.
Back in 1968,
when the Soviets tried to crush
the budding liberalization movement,
the people resisted.
It took two more decades but,
finally they got rid of
communist rule altogether.
The good news is,
all that is history.
The bad news is,
no one ever learns anything from history.
Which is why we now go to Prague—
where our friend Simon Whistler
from the YouTube channel VisualPolitik
has more.
Thanks, Chris.
Here in the Czech Republic,
China’s influence has grown considerably
in the last few years.
Which may seem a bit surprising,
given the Czech Republic’s traditional
anti-communist stance.
This is the Czech Republic’s first president
after communism,
Vaclav Havel—
seen here having a beer, of course.
He was outspoken against
the Chinese Communist Party's human rights violations...
But the situation seems to have changed
with the newest president, Miloš Žeman.
He took office in 2013.
And he's a big fan of Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
You could say he might even be
the president of Xi Jinping’s fan club.
Ummm wait,
actually that would be Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook.
Žeman, though,
could probably be the vice-president of the fan club.
He's met Xi Jinping six times
in just three years.
In 2014, Žeman became the first Czech president
to visit China in a decade.
Here he is at a ceremony
marking the anniversary of Sino-Czech relations.
Which was also the debut
of China’s newest military innovation,
the Stepford Soldiers.
Although, I do think I prefer the original to the knockoff.
Good morning, ladies.
Good morning, Claire.
Anyway, in 2015,
President Žeman visited China again.
Miloš Žeman, the only Western leader
to attend a massive military parade
in Beijing marking the 70th anniversary
since the end of World War II.
...a parade celebrated with giant weapons,
and more Stepford Soldiers.
Then in 2016, just to mix it up,
President Žeman invited Chinese leader Xi Jinping
to check out his hometown.
But just ten days ahead of Xi’s arrival,
Žeman faced a bit of a problem.
Around a thousand people welcomed
the Dalai Lama to the Czech Republic,
with a gathering outside Prague Castle,
the seat of the Czech president.
Yes, the Dalai Lama came to Prague
to spread his message of peace and compassion.
Like a Nazi.
At least according to Chinese officials.
Now, President Žeman was afraid
that simply ignoring the Dalai Lama
wouldn’t be enough to please Xi Jinping.
So he took it a step further,
and “allegedly” actively punished a Czech official
who met with the Dalai Lama.
There was a lot on the agenda
for the two leaders’ exciting three-day party.
At least according to Chinese state-run media.
Both nations hope to increase bilateral ties
in areas such as trade, infrastructure,
finance, and cultural exchange.
The cultural exchange evidently does not include
the Stepford Soldier upgrade option.
Žeman may have rolled out the red carpet
for Xi Jinping—literally—
but a lot of people the Czech Republic
were not very pleased with the visit.
Like the former Foreign Affairs Minister, who said,
“This is a shame to our republic.
We have invited a dictator to the same place
where our founding fathers were.”
But since the visit,
Chinese companies and tourists
have been pouring into the Czech Republic.
Bank of China has even set up a branch in
Prague.
And then the Czech Republic announced
it would invest more than 200 million dollars
with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
in a special fund for projects
in Central and Eastern Europe.
So what does the Czech Republic
get in return?
Well, it signed a bunch of deals with Chinese
companies.
Žeman said he expected China to invest
four billion US dollars in the Czech Republic.
But it’s been more than a year—
and it seems like most of those companies
are not exactly keeping their promises.
At least Chinese communist money is saving
local football.
Or something.
But there’s more to this story...
Žeman has said said he wants his country
to “become the entry gate” for China into the EU.
Chinese airlines now provide direct flights
to Prague
from three Chinese cities.
And there’s a new 7,000-mile freight train service to Prague
that starts in China’s Hubei Province.
President Žeman is also a superfan of China’s
One Belt One Road Initiative—
a plan to expand Chinese trade
and build Chinese infrastructure projects
in dozens of countries.
In addition,
the Czech Republic is also a figurative entry gate
for China into the European Union.
Žeman has said the Czech Republic will
“fully utilize its influence to help further boost
China’s relations with the EU
and Central and Eastern European countries.”
The Chinese Communist Party has wanted
to infiltrate the European Union for a long time—
and now is its chance.
You see, as a whole,
the EU is strong enough to stand up to China
as trading bloc.
Like when they rejected signing
the One Belt One Road statement.
The EU’s concern was that One Belt One Road
wasn’t transparent enough,
and that it would too heavily favor China
over other participants.
One EU diplomat commented,
“Apparently to Chinese surprise,
the EU was united on this.”
And even worse,
from the Chinese Communist Party’s perspective,
the EU has also publicly called out
China’s human rights atrocities.
So instead of facing off with the EU,
China’s leadership would much rather
deal with individual European countries
that they could more easily influence.
Like what they’re doing with the Czech Republic.
And then these individual countries can advocate
for China’s interests within the EU,
making it hard for the EU
to unite against China.
And now that Brexit is weakening the EU,
this is a great opportunity for the Chinese Communist Party
to implement their strategy.
Sounds paranoid, you might say...
Well, China’s leaders have already done
this exact same thing closer to home, with ASEAN,
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
China has territorial disputes in the South China Sea
with about half of the ASEAN nations.
But despite years of trying,
ASEAN has never fully stood up to China about the disputes,
even as the Chinese Communist Party builds artificial islands
and militarizes them.
The reason?
Well, for years,
the Chinese Communist Party have been successfully
dividing and conquering ASEAN.
And they did it by befriending one
of its member states, Cambodia—
using foreign aid and investment.
And then Cambodia, in return,
blocks anything that ASEAN could do
that would be bad for China.
Sounds awfully familiar now, doesn't it?
The good news is that the EU
is almost three times the size of ASEAN,
so the Chinese Communist Party can’t influence it
with the Czech Republic alone.
But it’s certainly a good place to start.
And now, back to you, Chris.
Thanks, Simon.
I guess President Žeman had better Czech himself
before he wrecks himself.
Or the EU.
And if you liked this episode,
check out more from Simon Whistler
on the YouTube channel, VisualPolitik.
He talks about politics and economics
around the world.
Plus, you can go to VisualPolitik right now
and check out the other video I did with Simon;
it’s about the relationship
between China and North Korea.
The link is below.
Thanks for watching this episode of China Uncensored.
I’m Chris Chappell.
See you next time.