ČSSD's China problem

Sen. Vice Pres. Milan Štěch of ČSSD said on OVM yesterday that if he were an MP, he would vote to form a parliamentary investigative commission for evaluating the influence of authoritarian regimes on Czech political affairs. The stated objective of such a commission is to determine how China is influencing Czech policy through the efforts of PPF's Home Credit. Štěch's words sounded nice in the studio, but secretly he is surely praying to the great Almighty that there won't be enough votes for the commission to be formed. Why? Because ČSSD and its commercial offshoot, ČSSD a.s., have been the biggest political supporters of PPF's efforts to mold Czech foreign policy in China's favor. Whose signature is on the bilateral investment-protection treaty of 2005? Bohuslav Sobotka's. Who planned to sign a memorandum of cooperation with China's Communist Party before the document was leaked? Bohuslav Sobotka. He's long gone, but ČSSD's China problem remains.