MEP from "Stačilo!" Outpaces Okamura in Courting China

Radovan Dostál, a Member of the European Parliament for the "Stačilo!" movement, traveled to China together with other MEPs long before House Speaker and SPD leader Tomio Okamura's official visit to the country. The trip took place at the end of May and beginning of June, and Dostál serves as a substitute member of the European Parliament's delegation for relations with China.

Judging by his social media posts, the country left a strong impression on the politician. "Do you have a company, a town or a region where industry is withering and new investment and technology are needed? Just say the word. Want robotics, biotech, or something in artificial intelligence? China registers more patents than the EU and the US combined, and their factories don't go bankrupt or lay off staff," he wrote on his Facebook page.

"Communists, Because They're Not Stupid"

Dostál also praised China as a pharmaceutical producer and called it the "strongest military power," speaking approvingly of the Chinese government. "Are you an ordinary worker afraid that the Chinese are communists? Yes, they are communists, because they're not stupid. They work for China and keep the added value at home, while you work for Western bankers and send 335 billion crowns out of Czechia every year in dividends, because our industry and our banking system no longer belong to us," the MEP declared.

He said he plans to return to China in August, this time on his own. Dostál reported on the meetings held during his May–June trip in the EU's lobbying transparency register, listing a total of 25 entries. Like Okamura after him, he took an interest in Chinese cars, urging European "green MEPs" to fight for Europeans' right to buy them freely.

A Series of Meetings with Chinese Officials

The trip to China was preceded by a string of talks with Chinese representatives. In January, Dostál met with China's ambassador to Czechia, and in March with China's ambassador to Belgium. In April, he held talks with a representative of the defense attaché at China's mission to the EU and with an associate professor from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

In May, he spoke with a minister-counsellor from China's mission to the EU and a minister-counsellor from the Chinese embassy in France, and also met with representatives of a summer school in Wuhan. In June and July, further meetings followed — with the chargé d'affaires of the Chinese embassy in Prague and a representative of the defense advisor at China's mission to the EU.

Asked to comment on such intensive contacts with Chinese officials, Dostál replied briefly: "I maintain relations with China because I sit on the European Parliament–China delegation… Everything is listed in the transparent register on the European Parliament's website."

An Unusual Level of Contact

According to Ivana Karásková, a China expert at Charles University, this level of activity is atypical for MEPs. "In our research into MEPs' contacts with individuals linked to China, we found that among the deputies who disclosed such meetings, the number usually did not exceed ten over an entire five-year term. Nine contacts within a few months is an extremely high intensity," she noted.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz