'I am Taiwanese': Czech politico echoes JFK
China, which claims democratic Taiwan as its own territory, has threatened to make Czech Senate speaker Milos Vystrcil pay a "heavy price" for visiting the island. The Czech Republic, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
Addressing Taiwan's parliament, Vystrcil, who is leading a delegation of about 90 politicians and business executives, said Kennedy's declaration that he was a Berliner was an important message for freedom.
"Please let me also express in person my support to Taiwan and the ultimate value of freedom and conclude today's speech ... with perhaps a more humble, but equally strong statement: 'I am a Taiwanese'," Vystrcil said, receiving a standing ovation.
Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, telling the frightened people of West Berlin who were surrounded on all sides by Communist East Berlin that he was also a Berliner, is an address often called Kennedy's best.
