Final Word from Wednesday, December 7, 2005
Jiří Paroubek said after returning from China in June that the CR could become a base for Chinese firms entering the EU. According to MFD, Paroubek is now pushing through an investment treaty that gives China better conditions than it has with the EU. The cabinet worked hard to correct this disparity in the case of the U.S.-Czech treaty, but Paroubek is reportedly ready to take sides with Beijing against Brussels regarding the Chinese text. China's ambassador, Tang Guoqiang, has been highly effective. His predecessors were Bohemists who spoke Czech, but not English, and who rarely got out of the house, while the current ambassador is worldly, speaks impeccable English and is a regular on the party circuit. Paroubek told Respekt that the Chinese do nothing by chance. Indeed. Tang has charmed Paroubek, and the investment treaty his PM is to sign tomorrow is the reward. [Czech Republic premier prime minister European Union investment-protection treaty MF Dnes]