Shanghai suspended official contact with Prague after the Czech city signed a partnership agreement with Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. Prague’s decision to enter into a partnership with Taiwan, and Shanghai’s response, is one development amidst an ongoing dispute between the Czech city and Beijing over the one China policy. Prague leadership voted in 2019 to withdraw from a sister-city agreement with Beijing after Chinese officials declined to remove a clause that would have required Prague to commit to the policy, which considers Taiwan a part of PRC territory. According to Reuters, Prague’s city council members said the inclusion of the clause was unusual for city-to-city agreements, given that the diplomatic matters are typically addressed by national governments. Czech President Milos Zeman expressed support for the policy in a personal letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping following the withdrawal, writing that “the Czech Republic, its government, fully respects the policy of one China”. In a press release announcing Prague’s partnership with Taipei, Czech lawmaker Jan Cizinsky remarked that “sister contracts should never be subject to extortion or threats”.