New Czech president shows why American leadership abroad is a strength of its own

Last week, the Czech Republic’s new president-elect, Petr Pavel, made a bold decision to call his Taiwanese counterpart Tsai Ing-wen and express his support for her country’s continued independence from China . The Chinese Communist Party predictably denounced Pavel for “interference in China’s internal affairs,” but their veiled threats did little to frighten the Czech leader. In fact, he vowed to meet Tsai in person to discuss ways their countries can cooperate more closely.

Americans can learn much from Pavel’s act of bravery, but first, they must realize that his decision to stand up to CCP bullies has a great deal to do with the U.S.'s leadership in both Asia and Europe. Our continued support for Ukraine, for example, inspires a united front against revisionist despots everywhere, including both Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.

Some analysts attempt to draw sharp distinctions between the Eastern European and Pacific theaters in our present great power conflict. Elbridge Colby, for instance, contends that America faces “a very real choice between Asia and Europe.” In his view, we must pick between supporting Taiwan or supporting Ukraine.

Colby favors choosing Taiwan in part because he believes China is a bigger threat than Russia. But that minimizes the ways in which China and Russia are cooperating in anti-Western actions. As President-elect Pavel recently told the Financial Times , “China and its regime is not a friendly country at this moment, it is not compatible with Western democracies in their strategic goals and principles.” Putin simply would not be able to fight the way he has been in Ukraine without the implicit support of Chairman Xi. We are witnessing a convergence of Chinese and Russian interests. What strengthens one of our enemies tends to strengthen the other — and what weakens one tends to weaken the other, too.

Read more in The Washington Examiner.