The Senate's 'petty action' toward China

Life can sometimes be so unfair. Miloš Zeman was one of the few heads of state or government to voice pre-election support for Donald Trump, yet Trump called Viktor Orbán instead. To add insult to injury, Trump took a phone call on Fri. from Taiwan's president, which was the global equivalent of the official meeting Da­niel Herman had with the Dalai Lama. Trump called into question the one-China policy, just as Herman had. China initially brushed off the phone call as a "petty action" of the Taiwanese president but then filed a formal complaint with the USA. China didn't have to file a formal complaint regarding Herman's meeting, because the CR's top four politicians issued a quick reaffirmation of the Czech policy toward China. As chance would have it, just two days before Trump took the phone call, the Czech Senate issued its own rebuttal to that policy statement. The Senate "distanced itself" from the statement but didn't in fact do anything to change the official Czech policy toward China. This "petty action" by the Senate should ultimately worry Zeman much less than Taiwan's.