Beijing/Warsaw/Bratislava, March 29 (CTK) – The ongoing Czech visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping continues to attract the attention of Chinese as well as the world media, the former hailing the “strategic partnership” deal with Prague and the latter asking about the reasons of Prague overture to China.
Economy has started to defeat ideology in Chinese-Czech relations, the Chinese paper Global Times has written.
After the drastic changes in Eastern Europe and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Czech Republic was a prominent critic of China, that took a hostile approach to Beijing due to issues linked to the Dalai Lama and human rights observance, the paper writes.
The current bilateral relations are totally different. Like Poland, for example, the Czech Republic has decided to overcome ideological controversies in relation to China and embark on a more friendly path, Global Times writes.
The same aspect has also been highlighted by the Polish daily Gazeta Prawna in an article headlined “Will the Czech Lands, not Poland, become China’s gate to Europe?”
The paper mentions Czech President Milos Zeman’s offer for the Czech Republic to serve as China’s “harbor” in Europe and a base for investments not only in the Czech Republic but also elsewhere in the EU and other countries of Europe.
While Beijing welcomes Xi Jinping’s visit to the Czech Republic as a symbolic victory, analysts say it seems to indicate the economic vulnerability of Prague, the CNBC news server has written.
The Slovak press says it is embarrassing that Prague turns a blind eye to human rights for the sake of economy.
“Although the Chinese media depict the controversial visit by the Chinese president as an exceptional incentive to mutual relations, which could bring billions to the Czechs, some economists say its economic effect is negligible, while the extension of [Beijing’s] influence is more important,” the sme.sk news server has written
