In late June 2026, China’s authorities detained an employee of a Czech radar manufacturer who had been working in China. The Czech national was taken into custody on suspicion of espionage, according to confidential sources. A Czech news outlet, citing relevant diplomatic correspondence, reports that the charges involve obtaining and passing along information, though no further specifics have been provided. China’s Foreign Ministry stated that the detention was carried out on national security grounds. Neither Beijing nor Prague has officially confirmed or elaborated on the substance of the allegations.
The incident throws into sharp relief the ongoing diplomatic friction between the Czech Republic and the PRC — friction that has only intensified since the January 2026 arrest in Prague of a Chinese journalist, Yang Yiming, working for the Guangming Daily media outlet. Yang Yiming was charged with operating as an unregistered agent of a foreign state and remains in custody. Both detentions have fueled speculation about the use of hostage diplomacy – the practice of taking foreign nationals into custody as a means of exerting leverage in interstate disputes. However, Czech Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Petr Macek has publicly dismissed such conjecture.