Czech Government Looks For Its Footing On Europe's New US-China Tightrope

PRAGUE -- New Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis's government has signaled interest in repairing ties with Beijing after years of strained relations.

But as it does so, it's also carefully calibrating Prague's next steps with how US President Donald Trump approaches China -- and how much room Washington leaves its allies to maneuver.

That was underscored in a mid-January phone call between Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka and the US ambassador to the Czech Republic, Nicholas Merrick, according to two Czech Foreign Ministry officials who spoke to RFE/RL on condition of anonymity.

Macinka, they said, outlined Prague's early thinking on China and, as a courtesy, conveyed that Babis -- who returned to office in December to top off his political comeback -- would not travel to Beijing before Trump does in an expected visit slated for April.

One Czech Foreign Ministry official told RFE/RL the government is operating on the assumption that the global order is consolidating around three major poles -- the United States, China, and Russia -- and that Prague's overriding interest is to remain firmly anchored in the American camp.

SEE ALSO: How The War In Ukraine Is Prompting The Czechs To Rethink Ties With China

"That means, above all, respecting Washington's desires on foreign policy," the official said. "But it doesn't mean ignoring China forever."

The new balancing act reflects a deeper debate now unfolding across much of Europe where governments are grappling with how to secure investment, boost trade, and maintain economic growth in an era of tightening US-China rivalry.

Leaders from Britain, Canada, Finland, France, Ireland, South Korea, and soon Germany, have visited Beijing recently to rekindle engagement with China after years of tensions as they weigh how much to hedge their ties with Washington over trade and geopolitical frictions.

That tightrope is particularly sensitive in Central and Eastern Europe where China's steady support for Russia, despite its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, has damaged its reputation in regional capitals.

In response, Beijing has launched its own charm offensive, looking to deepen already warm ties with Hungary and Slovakia, while dangling new trade opportunities and investments in front of Romania and Bulgaria .

"It's not just Prague; it's everyone across Central and Eastern Europe who is waiting for the signal from the US side on how to proceed," Katerina Prochazkova, an analyst at Sinopsis, a Prague-based think tank that tracks Chinese influence across Europe, told RFE/RL.

From China's ‘Gateway' To Taiwan's Closest European Partner

For now, Czech officials say they're content to wait for Trump's next move and gauge what kind of space that leaves them for engagement with Beijing.

But the desire for a more pragmatic China policy is strong within Babis's three-party coalition, which includes his ANO party, Macinka's populist Motorists for Themselves party, and the far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD), some of whom have spoken of the need to pivot from the previous government's close alignment with Taiwan and pursue warmer ties with Beijing.

SEE ALSO: Taiwanese Foreign Minister Warns Of Global Struggle With China, Russia During European Trip

"It would be nonsensical for us to be absent from the Chinese market," Hynek Kmonicek, Babis's national-security adviser, told the Czech daily iDNES.cz during a January 13 interview. "Of course we have to go there in such a way that it is a safe version and beneficial for us."

Kmonicek didn't elaborate on what those plans would be, but said renewed engagement with Beijing would not mean abandoning ties with Taiwan, the self-governing island that China claims as its own.

"When it comes to Taiwan, I wouldn't expect a big shift in substance from the new government," Zuzana Koskova, a China expert who leads the Red Watch Program at the European Values Center for Security Policy think tank, told RFE/RL.

"The visibility of Taiwan in the Czech Republic, however, will be lower and this will shift from a values-based foreign policy because Taiwan is a democracy toward a pragmatic one about trade and investment opportunities."

SEE ALSO: Can Europe Push China To Help End Russia's War In Ukraine?

Relations between Prague and Beijing deteriorated in recent years under the previous Czech administration that favored close ties with Taiwan. In August, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it would cease engagement with Czech President Petr Pavel -- who holds an influential, but largely ceremonial role -- over his visit with the Dalai Lama in India.

Pavel, a retired top NATO general, drew Beijing's ire after his election in 2023 when he broke with decades of diplomatic protocol and accepted a phone call from then Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen. During his tenure, Pavel has warned that China is an "assertive" actor looking to rebalance the global order in its favor and that Europe should move to lessen its economic dependencies on Beijing.

That marked a turnaround from his predecessor, Milos Zeman, who was president from 2013 to 2023 over two five-year terms.

Zeman courted stronger ties with China and famously offered his country as "China's gateway to Europe" during a visit to Beijing.

SEE ALSO: The Controversial Company That Opened The Door For China's Growing Influence in Georgia

As president he toed a pro-Beijing line on many human rights issues in hopes of attracting greater Chinese investment. Zeman even appointed Ye Jianming, a former chairman of CEFC China Energy, as his honorary economic adviser.

The Chinese billionaire, who had spent more than $1 billion in deals in the Czech Republic, was detained in 2018 by Chinese authorities and his whereabouts are still unknown.

Many of the deals under Zeman's tenure did not materialize or stalled in the years that followed. Taiwan, which is critical to global supply chains, has since become a larger investor than China in the Czech Republic as Taiwanese companies continue to expand their links to Europe.

Babis's Domestic Focus

How Babis, who was also prime minister from 2017-2021, engages with China may be highly influenced by domestic factors, analysts say.

"The personality of Babis is very important here. He's very focused on domestic politics," said Koskova. "He did business with China before he went into politics and it wasn't a very positive experience for him."

SEE ALSO: Babis's Czech Election Victory Poses Potential Headache For Brussels, Kyiv

A billionaire with an estimated net worth of $4.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Babis has taken a populist approach to politics that propelled him to first become prime minister in 2017. That stint was marred by an investigation into allegations that one of his companies fraudulently obtained EU subsidies.

Babis, who denied any wrongdoing, was eventually tried and acquitted, though the case re-emerged this year when a Czech municipal tribunal was ordered to re-examine it.

Pavel, who decisively defeated Babis to become Czech president in 2023, had said the former premier needed to sort out ownership of his business empire to eliminate any conflicts, a dispute that intensified during government formation talks following the October 2025 parliamentary election.

SEE ALSO: What Xi's Purge Of A Top General Means For China And Its Neighbors

That standoff was settled when Babis publicly committed to transferring his business group to an independently governed trust in December.

But both leaders have found themselves at odds again amid a new scandal around Pavel's refusal to appoint lawmaker Filip Turek to a cabinet position and subsequent allegations that Macinka attempted to blackmail the president over the decision.

Macinka has rejected the blackmail allegations, but the crisis has engulfed Czech politics.

With attention currently focused on scandal at home, Babis may look to make good on his campaign goal of bringing in greater investment to spur economic growth through a trip to Asia this summer, where his staff are looking to also include a stop in Beijing.

That trip, which could also include visits to Singapore and Vietnam, would come after a prospective meeting between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in April, and give Babis clearer signals on how to proceed as he courts new investments and trade openings.

"When it comes to China, Babis is not like Zeman," Koskova said. "Of course he would be open to more investment, but the main thing is to not offend the Americans."