Former President Tsai Ing-wen attended the opening dinner of the Forum 2000 in the Czech Republic on the evening of October 13, where she sat closely next to Czech Senate President Miloš Vystrčil. Their interactions were notably warm and engaging during the event.
The 28th Forum 2000 dinner featured an awards ceremony attended by over 400 guests from around the globe, including figures such as Tsai Ing-wen, Vystrčil, Russian opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza, former Slovak Prime Minister Iveta Radičová, and Walter Russell Mead, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and columnist for The Wall Street Journal.
This was not the first meeting between Tsai and Vystrčil; they have had a history of close interactions. In late August 2020, Vystrčil led a large delegation of 90 members to Taiwan, where he met with then-President Tsai Ing-wen. During this visit, he delivered a speech in the Legislative Yuan and famously declared in Mandarin, “I am Taiwanese,” showing his support for free and democratic Taiwan, an act that resonated deeply with the Taiwanese public.
In November 2020, Tsai congratulated Vystrčil on his successful re-election as Czech Senate President via Facebook, praising him as principled and a true friend of Taiwan.
