Czechia and Taiwan: no embassies, plenty of contact

A Czech company can sell goods to Taiwan, a Taiwanese factory can employ Czech workers in Pardubice, and a Czech senator can sit down with Taiwan's president in Taipei, yet there is no Czech embassy on the island and no Taiwanese one in Prague. The arrangement is common across Europe, but few countries have tested its limits as publicly as Czechia.

What follows is how that arrangement works, how it got here and where the strains lie.

The legal frame

Like almost every state in the world, Czechia recognises the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the government of China. Czechoslovakia recognised the PRC in 1949, shortly after its founding. The Czech position, repeated by successive governments, is a one-China policy: the PRC is the sole legitimate government of China, and Czechia does not have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan. This is the same formal stance that most EU states hold. Official relations with Taiwan are handled through non-governmental channels.

The practical arrangement is that Taiwan runs the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Prague, and Czechia maintains the Czech Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei. Both deal with visas, trade promotion, cultural exchange and help for their citizens. They are not embassies, and their staff do not have full diplomatic status, but they are the working link. Taiwanese passport holders can travel to the Schengen area, including Czechia, without a visa for short stays, a right the EU granted in 2011.

Business and investment

Trade is where the relationship is most solid. Taiwanese companies operate in Czechia, notably in electronics manufacturing: the Foxconn group, for example, has long had plants in the Pardubice area. Czech firms export machinery, components and other goods to Taiwan and import electronics and machine parts. In trade terms the two economies are modest partners for each other compared with, say, Germany for Czechia, but the contact is steady and has grown in areas such as semiconductors, research and universities.

Czech industry is part of a global electronics supply chain, so developments in Taiwan, the world's leading centre of advanced chip manufacturing, matter for the car industry in particular (see Hyundai in Nošovice and the Czech car industry). How investment is encouraged is explained in Czech investment incentives.

Prague, Beijing and Taipei

The most visible turning point came at municipal level. In October 2019 Prague's city council, led by Mayor Zdeněk Hřib, ended its partnership agreement with Beijing, after a dispute about a clause in which Prague was asked to affirm a one-China position. In January 2020 Prague signed a sister-city agreement with Taipei. The decision drew protests from the Chinese embassy and reflected a wider political tension in Prague between the municipal government and the national one. How the city and the state share powers is explained in how Prague is governed.

The Senate visit

In late August and early September 2020, the president of the Czech Senate, Miloš Vystrčil, led a large delegation to Taiwan, the highest-ranking Czech official to visit in decades. The trip took place against the objections of the Chinese government, which issued warnings. Czech President Miloš Zeman, who favoured closer economic ties with China, and part of the government criticised the trip, while many senators and part of the opposition defended it as an expression of Czech democratic values. The episode showed that Czech foreign policy is shaped by several institutions with different views. The role of the Senate and the other institutions is explained in Czech Parliament explained and how the Czech president is chosen and what the role does.

Contacts have continued since, including visits by Taiwanese officials and academics to conferences in Prague. Petr Pavel, who became president in 2023, has struck a different tone from his predecessor. At the same time, governments have stressed that the formal policy has not changed. The position in 2026 depends on the government in office, so check the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for its current statements.

Why this matters beyond Prague

Czechia sits inside the EU's common approach, which combines a one-China policy with the development of economic and cultural ties with Taiwan, and the European External Action Service sets out the Union's stance. Any Czech move that looks like official recognition would put the country at odds with that framework as well as with Beijing. A second layer is trade policy, which is an EU competence, not a national one; the Commission negotiates on behalf of the member states, as explained in how the EU works. A trade deal with a faraway partner shows the same logic: see CETA and Czechia.

Czechia also has a history of caring about human rights in China. Václav Havel (his biography) was a prominent supporter of the Dalai Lama, and the topic of Tibet and Taiwan has recurred in Czech debate since the 1990s. Czech Chinese relations have gone through phases of strong business interest, particularly under President Zeman, and later scepticism, especially after 2020 concerning security and technology questions.

How the EU frames it

Member states do not negotiate their own deals with Taiwan on trade, since trade policy is an EU competence. The EU has a trade and economic relationship with Taiwan, holds regular dialogues and treats it as an important technology partner, while recognising only the PRC. National governments such as Prague's can raise questions in the Council, but in practice their room for manoeuvre is limited to bilateral cultural, academic and commercial contacts. This is the logic behind the distinction Czech officials often draw between "unofficial" and "official" relations.

Education, science and culture

Beyond politics, the contacts are practical. Czech and Taiwanese universities run exchange programmes, researchers collaborate in areas such as materials science and information technology, and Taiwan funds scholarships for foreign students. Cultural exchanges, from film weeks to concerts, take place in both directions, usually organised by the representative offices. These links are less visible than the diplomatic episodes but they are what keeps the relationship active when governments change.

The same sort of contact exists between Taiwan and many other EU countries, so Czechia is not an outlier in kind, only in how openly some of its institutions have chosen to speak. Economic interests, security concerns about technology supply chains and the values argument over human rights all pull in different directions, and each Czech government has had to find its own balance between them.

Taiwanese in Czechia

For Taiwanese citizens living or studying in Czechia, the practical matters are the same as for other foreigners: visas and residence permits, health insurance and registration. The Taipei office offers consular help. Czechia and Taiwan also have academic exchange programmes, and Czech universities host Taiwanese students and researchers. The general framework is in Czech visa types explained.

Frequently asked questions

Does Czechia recognise Taiwan?

No. Czechia recognises the People's Republic of China and follows a one-China policy, while maintaining unofficial ties with Taiwan through representative offices.

Are there offices in each country?

Yes. Taiwan has the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Prague, and Czechia has the Czech Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei.

Do Taiwanese citizens need a visa for Czechia?

Not for short stays in the Schengen area, a right the EU granted in 2011. Longer stays need a residence permit.

Why did Prague end its partnership with Beijing?

In 2019 the city council objected to a clause in the agreement on one-China, and later signed a sister-city deal with Taipei in January 2020.

For the current official position, read the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' statements instead of relying on press summaries.