Czech Senate president Milos Vystrcil waves upon his arrival at Taiwan's Taoyuan International Airport on Sunday. Photo: AFP

No treaty, no major announcement. The fruitless gifts between Taiwan's Tsai Ing-wen authority and visiting Czech Senate president Milos Vystrcil hardly satisfied those who fool themselves to challenge the one-China principle. Experts noted that the meeting will not affect the substantive exchanges between the Chinese and Czech governments, nor will it shake the friendly exchanges between China and EU countries.

One day after Tsai attended the 2020 Europe Day dinner and expressed her hope of further economic exchanges and trade with European countries, she met with Vystrcil in Taipei on Thursday and presented gifts for their rare guests, including a medal for Vystrcil's late predecessor Jaroslav Kubera.

About an hour before politicians on the island of Taiwan expressed support for Taiwan secessionism in the name of freedom and democracy, Taiwan media reported that an unidentified Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) reconnaissance aircraft appeared over Taiwan Straits at 9 am. The aircraft reportedly crossed the "middle line" of the Taiwan Straits before returning to the mainland.  

Cui Hongjian, director of EU studies at the China Institute of International Studies in Beijing, told the Global Times that after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's tour of central and eastern Europe amid escalating US-China tensions, some anti-China forces sought benefits.  

Cui said the Czech Senate president may curry favor for himself in the Czech Republic to portray his Taiwan tour as a "journey of democracy." Vystrcil also used the visit to prove Czech's "independent diplomacy" within the EU and compliance to the US.

Zhang Shengjun, an international politics professor at Beijing Normal University, told the Global Times on Thursday that the island of Taiwan and the Czech Republic have limited exchanges. The island's authority is attempting to broaden its "international diplomatic border" under the US shield.

In 2019, trade between the island and the Czech Republic was only $800 million, zaobao.com reported. Among the three Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) signed during the visit, two are low-level agreements between chambers of commerce, and the scale has not been disclosed yet.

In contrast, according to data from China's Ministry of Commerce, trade between the Chinese mainland and the Czech Republic totaled $29.3 billion in 2019, a 2.3 percent increase from the previous year.

Taiwan island secessionists need to be emboldened by allies after provoking the Chinese mainland, analysts said.

Despite US pressure, most EU governments, including the Czech Republic's, will not dance to the US and Taiwan's tune. Their tricks will not shake the foundation of friendly cooperation between China and the EU, Zhang said. 

The Chinese mainland needs to put more pressure on the Taiwan secessionist authority who has barked loudly recently, while remaining more flexible with other countries, Zhang noted.