2022-1-7

The European Values Center for Security Policy (EVC), a Czech Republic think tank, decided to set up an office in Taipei in late 2021, which has become the first European national security think tank to establish an office in Taiwan.

In a recent interview, EVC director Jakub Janda talked about why he established the Taipei Office in Taiwan. “First, we have many friends and allies in Taiwan. These local experts share a similar understanding of democratic governance and are also looking for strengthening their ties with Europe. Second, we face a common enemy, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), that virtually threatens the sovereignty and democracy of Taiwan and Europe,” he said.

Janda said in the past three years and during the epidemic, the fact that “The CCP has become the major threat to world democracy” has received wide recognition. In both Taiwan and in Europe, many top-level security facilities have sought to further investigate what the Chinese government had done. However, in terms of resistance against China, Europe has relatively limited knowledge. “Therefore, we have established an office here and hopefully to share with each other how the CCP operates and how they can actually be suppressed or exposed.”

Graduating from the College of International and Public Relations in Prague, Janda has been working on policy analysis and research for several years, excelling in how democratic countries deal with misinformation from their enemies. He has served as a consultancy expert on “foreign power and influence” at the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, as well as on the staff of Rudolf Chlad, a former member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic and Czech National Security Council.

“In 2018, the Chinese government’s involvement in the Central European nations became more apparent. We started to expose and analyze the influence of the CCP on democracy and raised awareness of our democratic allies in resisting China. During this time, we often flew to Taiwan”, he explained. When visiting Taiwan to observe the presidential election in 2020, EVC noted that the experts in Taiwan had extensive knowledge and experience in terms of the infiltration and threat from China. In addition, due to the lack of experts with such knowledge in Europe, EVC decided to settle in Taipei.

“As a sovereign state, Taiwan practically has the sole power to decide how to govern its own country.” Janda said that EVC can help Taiwan build more direct connections with the democratic nations in Europe. Establishing an office in Taiwan is to “help Taiwan defend its sovereignty,” enhancing Taiwan’s connection with other European nations, and reinforcing Europe’s support for security and defense in Taiwan.

The Mission of the Generation Shall Put into Practice

“When visiting Taiwan for the first time in 2019, I wished to witness the democratic election in Taiwan on the frontline of the great power. At that time, President Tsai Ing-wen was running for re-election,” said Janda. He noticed that Taiwan was facing a similar problem with the democratic nations in Central Europe. Both are young democratic nations, threatened by Chinese or Russian invasion externally and in urgent need of discussing how to defend their national sovereignty. “The Czech Republic was under non-democratic governance for decades. Taiwan has had a similar experience to the Czech Republic in terms of democratization.”

Today, the passion for democracy influences Janda’s generation in the Czech Republic. EVC currently is led by him and a group of young Czechs, contributing greatly to help prevent the Czech Republic from being infiltrated by the Communist nations. Between 2016 and 2017, entrusted by the Czech Republic’s security intelligence facilities, EVC provided an assessment and offered suggestions regarding “foreign power influence” in the Czech Republic’s National security audits, resulting in a change to their national security policies.

“The history of Europe has told us that dictatorship can't survive for long. I truly believe freedom and democracy is the best way to live.” Janda suggests that democracy will continue because many people like him believe in this value. “My parents and grandparents’ generations spent most of their time fighting against dictatorship. Therefore, protecting democracy is the obvious mission of people in our generation.”

Knowing European Values Center for Security Policy

The European Values Center for Security Policy is a non-partisan NGO defending freedom and sovereignty. It aims to protect the freedom, democracy, and rule of law in the Czech Republic and its Transatlantic partners, and helps protect Europe from the malicious influence of Russian, Chinese and Islamic extremism.

Since 2005, as an NGO and NPO not involved with any political parties, this think tank has constantly been working on policy and threat assessment. Besides releasing analysis papers and commentaries, it also specifically holds meetings, conferences, and training programs for government/non-government organizations in order to develop the required abilities.

Article courtesy of The Storm Media