INTERVIEW/Late Czech speaker's daughter fulfills father's mission with Taiwan trip

Taipei, June 7 (CNA) Vendula Vinšová, daughter of the late Czech Senate President Jaroslav Kubera, said her recent trip to Taiwan with current Senate President Miloš Vystrčil was a way to fulfill her father's final wish.

As the four-day trip drew to a close on Thursday, Vinšová told CNA and other local media that she believed the mission had been accomplished.

In a Thursday interview before heading home later that day, Vinšová was asked what she would tell her father about the visit. She said she would tell him that his original plan to visit Taiwan in 2020 "was the right thing to do."

"If my father had visited back then, he would have fallen in love with Taiwan," she said via an interpreter.

Kubera was a longtime supporter of Taiwan. He died of a heart attack in January 2020, a month before his planned trip to the country.

At the time, Czech media reported that the Chinese embassy had sent a letter threatening repercussions for Czech businesses if Kubera went through with the trip.

Following Kubera's death, his successor, Vystrčil, promptly decided to lead a 90-member delegation of political, business and scientific leaders to Taiwan from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5, 2020.

At a June 2020 press conference, Vystrčil said he was dismayed by the letter and found the influence China exerted over his country "unbearable."

Vystrčil also said that the Czech Republic's history of prioritizing freedom, democracy, independence and the rule of law over financial gain contributed to his decision to visit Taiwan.

Last week, Vystrčil led a 40-member delegation to Taiwan from Monday to Thursday on his second trip to the country. Vinšová was one of the delegates.

Asked whether she believed China's threats were related to her father's heart attack and subsequent death, Vinšová said she did.

According to Vinšová, her father received separate letters from the Chinese Embassy in the Czech Republic and the Czech Presidential Office telling him that "if he insists on visiting Taiwan, he will pay the highest price."

The Czech Senate launched an investigation into the threats against her father, but to no avail.

Her father kept his work and personal life separate and would not talk about the pressure he was under, but he appeared extremely tired and unwell during that period, she said.

"I had never seen my father so distressed," she added.

Her father believed that although the Czech Republic and Taiwan were geographically distant, they were very similar, particularly in their shared spirit of resistance.

He also believed that there is no greater value in the world than democracy and freedom, according to Vinšová.

Before the trip, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, who was elected late last year, said his government had declined to provide a government aircraft because he did not want the visit to be seen as an official endorsement that could harm Czech business interests in China.

Vystrčil and his delegation instead took a direct commercial flight between Prague and Taoyuan.

Vinšová said that Vystrčil follows through on his goals once he sets them and that she fully supports him.

Before departing for Taiwan, Vinšová collected several pebbles from the Czech Republic and inscribed them with her father's name and various wishes, including "freedom."

While in Taipei, she scattered the pebbles around the city, hoping that someone would find one bearing her father's name. The gesture was symbolic, as she was visiting Taiwan on his behalf.

She said her father loved life and loved people.

If she could share one thing about the trip with her father, Vinšová said she would want him to know about the bravery of the Taiwanese people and the unwavering friendship between Taiwan and the Czech Republic.

I would tell him, "What you insisted on doing back then was the right thing to do," she added.