Okamura Heads to China Amid Arrest of Czech Citizen on Espionage Charges

Speaker of the Czech Chamber of Deputies Tomio Okamura (SPD) has departed on a visit to China — just days after news broke that a Czech citizen had been arrested on suspicion of spying for the Chinese regime.

The trip has drawn sharp criticism from the opposition, which called for the visit to be cancelled following news of the detention. Okamura, however, refused to back down, saying he had consulted with intelligence services before leaving and, if necessary, was prepared to personally intervene in the detained Czech's case.

"I have the fullest possible information, and I'm prepared to handle even pressing consular matters," Okamura said over the weekend on the CNN Prima News discussion program.

The politician describes the goal of the visit as reviving relations between Czechia and China.

Foreign policy in general has become one of the main flashpoints between the current government and President Petr Pavel. Andrej Babiš's cabinet has refused to coordinate its foreign policy course with the president, while Foreign Minister Petr Macinka has been locked in open conflict with the head of state for months. Tensions have been further inflamed by the president filing a jurisdictional lawsuit against the government over a dispute about who will represent Czechia at the NATO summit in Ankara.

Moreover, in its policy statement the new government already signalled its intention to change the country's foreign policy course: instead of values-based diplomacy, the cabinet plans to pursue a more pragmatic approach.

Former Foreign Minister and current ODS lawmaker Jan Lipavský also weighed in, criticising another episode — Andrej Babiš's visit to Paris — calling the prime minister's conduct unfortunate and saying he had adopted a lecturing tone toward the French side.

Source: seznamzpravy.cz