Final Word from Thursday, August 13, 2020
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the Czech Senate yesterday that, "The CCP [Chinese Communist Party] initiates retaliation against innocent parties when crossed." Other governments also of course reward their allies and punish their adversaries. Conspicuously absent during Pompeo's visit at the U.S. residence with five tech companies was Seznam.cz. By nearly any measure, it is one of the leading Czech tech companies and deserves a seat at the table. But "when faced with the decision about authoritarianism or democracy and freedom," to use Pompeo's words, it made the "wrong" choice. It chose to push for a digital tax against Google, Facebook and Amazon and to enter into an app partnership with Huawei. Pompeo's ability to use economic leverage to stifle Seznam's freedom is limited so far, but this could change if PM Andrej Babiš gets his way. He wants the Huawei/5G agenda to be moved to the EU level. If this happened and member states decided to cross Pompeo by embracing Huawei, Seznam would be vindicated. If Pompeo won in Brussels, though, Seznam could become a pariah in the EU. [ Czech Republic European Union United States of America China ]
Glossary of difficult words
to cross someone - to oppose, resist, defy or contradict someone;
adversary - opponent, rival or enemy;
conspicuously - in a way that attracts notice or attention; in a clearly visible way;
leverage - the power to influence a person or situation;
to stifle - to prevent or constrain;
to vindicate - to show or prove to be right, reasonable or justified;
pariah - an outcast or undesirable person.