A journalist who visited the embassy twice a month
Yang Yiming worked in Prague for years as a correspondent for Guangming Daily, a party newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party. The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs repeatedly renewed his accreditation; he conducted interviews with both Czech and Slovak politicians, and according to security services, he attempted to obtain information from them. SME / TASR ↗Police detained him on January 17 following cooperation with the BIS intelligence service, and he has been in custody ever since. The state prosecutor filed the indictment against him in mid-May. According to findings by Czech media, he collected compromising information about Czech public figures connected to Taiwan, which Chinese intelligence allegedly intended to use for pressure or blackmail. He reportedly delivered the collected materials to the Chinese embassy approximately twice a month. Focus Taiwan ↗
According to investigators, his journalistic position served precisely as cover. Around 2020, Guangming Daily established cooperation with the Czech Literární noviny, which subsequently published content favorable to Beijing. Taiwan News ↗
The second thread: the Taiwanese vice president's motorcade
The second layer of the case involves a visit to Prague in March 2024. At that time, the then-elected but not yet inaugurated Taiwanese Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim traveled to the Czech capital, provoking anger in Beijing. The director of the Czech Military Intelligence Service, Petr Bartovský, later confirmed to Czech Radio that the military section of the Chinese embassy was preparing a "demonstrative show of force" — a staged incident involving the motorcade in which Hsiao was traveling. Newsweek ↗A Chinese military attaché allegedly tailed the motorcade, running a red light in the process. According to Bartovský, the plan did not go beyond the preparatory phase because Czech security forces were nearby. According to him, the Chinese embassy thereby grossly violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Yang's case and the motorcade incident represent two parallel lines of Chinese pressure concerning Taiwan — however, the prosecuted journalist is not charged with preparing the collision. Focus Taiwan ↗
The law's first test — and a government seeking a more accommodating course toward Beijing
The paragraph on unauthorized activity for a foreign power has been in effect since February 2025, and its constitutionality was confirmed on February 4 of this year by the Czech Constitutional Court, following a motion by 24 senators. Yang's case is its very first application. iDNES ↗The timing is sensitive. The new government of Andrej Babiš (ANO, SPD, and Motoristé) proclaims a more pragmatic course toward China and a departure from the strong pro-Taiwan orientation of the previous cabinet. "It would be nonsensical for us to be absent from the Chinese market," declared Babiš's national security advisor Hynek Kmoníček. RFE/RL ↗
Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Petr Macinka, leader of the Motoristé, discussed the case with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the UN in New York. He assured the Chinese side that the detention conditions are standard and that guilt will be decided by an independent court, while emphasizing that Prague wants "normal relations" with Beijing. iDNES ↗ That tensions surrounding Taiwan have not disappeared was also underscored this week by the trip of Czech Senate President Miloš Vystrčil, who was honored in Taiwan — a move sharply criticized by Beijing. TERAZ.sk ↗
What hotinfo is following
- The court date and verdict — Yang is the first precedent under the foreign power paragraph, and his sentence will determine the law's weight going forward.
- Which Slovak politicians were among his contacts — this part is not yet public.
- Whether the Babiš government's shift toward China will affect the diplomatic aftermath of the case.
- Beijing's reaction — possible reciprocal measures against Czech journalists or diplomats.
