The Chinese president is under domestic pressure, and at the same time the triumph of his foreign policy is stalling, Die Welt notes. This especially applies to Europe, where the so-called “17+1” initiative is rapidly failing. Xi has to thank his ally Vladimir Putin for this, Capital.gr and Rador cite.

A German newspaper cites the example of Prague Mayor Zdenek Grzyb, who likes to place the Tibetan flag prominently on his desk. The Czech politician does not miss any opportunity to show whose side he is on: on the side of the peoples who are oppressed and threatened by the People’s Republic of China, Die Welt comments.

He also likes to fly the Tibetan flag in front of City Hall and has already visited the island nation of Taiwan twice, which Beijing does not recognize and which, if contested, would be annexed by China by military force. Grzyb meets with opponents of Beijing’s government – he even recently hosted representatives of the Tibetan parliament in exile – and the city hosted the World Uyghur Congress.

Grzyb, the head of the new city hall since 2018, is the number one critic of China in the Czech Republic. His biggest blow is ending the partnership between Prague and Beijing and shortly after signing a partnership agreement with the capital of Taiwan, Taipei. Grzyb simply does not agree to the political clause on “one China” in the treaty with Beijing. In his opinion, European politicians should not deny Taiwan the right to exist in this way.

Grzyb had to pay a price for his loyalty: he was threatened and pressured, including from the administration of the Czech president. President Milos Zeman has long been the driving force behind the rapprochement of the Czech Republic with China. According to him, he wants to make his country “China’s gateway to the EU.”

Thus, in 2016, he welcomed his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at a ceremony in Prague Castle. He, in turn, promised to invest billions of euros in the country with a population of 10 million.

Politicians like Grzyb had a hard time in the Czech Republic in the following years. “During the global financial crisis, the Czech Republic became more aligned with Asia, especially with China,” says Ivana Karaskova, a China expert at the Czech think tank Amo.

But times have changed. It seems that it was not Grzyb who had to adapt to the Czech political scene, but the latter followed Grzyb’s line. Since the government of Petr Fiala came to power in December 2021, the mood towards Beijing has changed, not only because of the existence of ministers from the Pirate Party who are critical of China.

“Before Jan Lipavskyi became the Minister of Foreign Affairs, we had a close coordination regarding our attitude towards China. The fact that it is still of crucial importance today is no accident,” explains Mayor Grzyb in an interview with Die Welt.

At the beginning of 2023, President Zeman will also finish his term. He will not be allowed to run for another term, and there is no ready-made China-friendly successor behind the scenes.

Investments do not materialize, mistrust is growing

There is a kind of competition in Czech politics as to who is more critical of China, says Karaskova. The expert even estimates that in the near future Prague will leave the “17+1” group formed by China.

The Chinese initiative, originally named “16+1” and later expanded to “17+1”, was actually aimed at deepening the People’s Republic’s relations with seventeen Central and Eastern European countries. It was seen as a cornerstone of the Silk Road project through which Beijing invests globally and expands its influence.

In 2012, the eastern countries of the EU, as well as Serbia or Montenegro, which are not members of the Union, were promised billions of euros of investment from the Far East in exchange for participation in the initiative.

Meanwhile, frustration set in in several capitals over the lack of adequate investment. In addition, more and more decision-makers believe that by advancing into European territory, the Chinese want to divide the EU into East and West and exert political influence.

Last year, Lithuania was the first country to leave the group, followed by Latvia and Estonia, effectively reducing the initiative to “14+1”. Now the Czech Republic can also turn its back on China. This would be a bitter blow to Beijing. The country is of strategic interest to China due to its strong position and focus on the German economy.

If the Czech Republic pulls out, the initiative could be buried and China will lose a significant amount of influence in the EU’s east – and this at a time when mass protests against Beijing’s Zero Covid policy are challenging even the Communist Party. The image of a powerful world power is crumbling.

A further collapse or failure of the 17+1 initiative would also mean a significant loss of prestige for Beijing. This would be an example that would show that it is difficult for China to create international structures and thus ultimately exercise political influence.

In addition to the lack of investment and the risk of political influence, there is another reason for growing skepticism about China in Central and Eastern Europe: Russia’s war against Ukraine. Russian terrorism caught many people by surprise, says Prague Mayor Zdenek Grzyb.

“It’s a reminder to them to keep their distance from other illiberal and aggressive states like China,” he says. The Baltic countries and especially Poland see themselves threatened by a Russian war, but in the Czech Republic, Slovakia or Romania there are also concerns about the expansion of the war. Many see China as an ally of Russia, a country that threatens them. In this context, almost no one wants a privileged partnership with Beijing.

The Russian war “significantly worsened” the image of China in the Czech Republic, expert Ivana Karaskova also confirms. She notes that the Czech public has never fully supported the openness to China that politicians have long advocated. “The situation with human rights and everything that China does determines the mood in the country. People don’t want more cooperation with China, they want less,” she says.

The government of Petr Fiala reacts to this state of affairs, and so does the new president – the political class is finally following the example of Mayor Grzyb.

(Radar pickup)