Taiwan isn't a country most Czechs know well, but, thanks to a movement that has been germinating for almost as long as the Czech Republic has been free, they soon might.

In 1993, the Czech Republic was the first East European nation to open a representative trade office in Taipei, the Taiwanese capital. Other than the Vatican, not a single European country had diplomatic relations with the breakaway island across the Straits of Taiwan from China. Raising the ire of the mighty Chinese was not a part of the global game plan at the time, especially in the brave new world that was just four years on from Russian and East European communism. Thus, Czechs still hold the reputation in Taiwan as being the real pioneers — a reputation that has reaped many dividends.

Today, Taiwan continues to remain a pariah state to many nations. Officially, it is still not a member of the United Nations, and, while it can boast of its friendship with one of the mightiest in the schoolyard, the United States, few other nations, especially in Europe, have engaged the Taiwanese to a similar extent.

Czechs have led the way, jests Michal Král, 52, because "the truth is that we just like people." Král says this without a trace of irony, speaking from a Prague 1 café. With a manner that never intimidates, this urbane and remarkably well-read civil servant speaks with a near-perfect English accent and seems born for the diplomatic corps.

A Prague-based civil servant and former trade consultant who has had postings abroad over the past nine years, Král works for the Foreign Affairs Ministry. He has topped off his professional life in diplomacy with the young democracy, serving for the past five years in Taiwan, following a four-year stint in India. Like many of his colleagues in the post-1989 diplomatic corps, he learned much of what he knows today while on the job.

Král, who doesn't appear a day over 40, credits the Czech Republic's international reputation for holding the middle ground as contributing to the fact that he has lower stress levels than those of superpower diplomats from China, the United States or Russia.

At the same time, he explains, the Czech Republic's business in Asia is very serious.

"Taiwan and the Czech Republic have learned to understand the strategic value of combining resources and exchanging ideas completely divorced from politics, on a strictly nongovernmental level," Král says. "Did you know that Taiwan today is the Czech Republic's second-largest Asian investor, behind Japan? This was a relationship which blossomed from our earliest days as part of our presence in Taiwan."

Somehow, fortunately, China doesn't seem to mind.

According to Král, China actually has little reason to obstruct trade ties between the Czech Republic and Taiwan. With the Olympic Games set to arrive in China in 2008 and things humming along nicely on the Chinese economic front, the Asian superpower doesn't trouble itself, so long as the understanding between Prague and Taipei doesn't affect the mainland's much-touted "One China" policy.

In the past, various low-profile business symposia have been organized under Czech auspices in Prague, "meet and greets," essentially, between prospective European and Taiwanese businesspeople, which their organizers hope may eventually bear commercial fruit.

"If the Taiwanese choose to espouse certain political views at those times, well, it's certainly their prerogative, isn't it?" Král says. "However, just because they put across various controversial views about a certain neighboring country doesn't mean that we or our European confreres have to address those."

During his stint in Taiwan, which he describes as one of the most rewarding international postings of his whole career, Král had a chance to flex some previously underutilized diplomatic muscles.

His politeness came in handy, when things occasionally got thorny. "It was important to stress to our Taiwanese friends on a daily basis that we in the Czech Republic weren't willing to make ourselves famous at any cost," he says. "Initially, our lower-cost labor base was one of the more attractive upsides for Taiwanese business — and that a dollar would travel far in our country. But, as the Czech Republic has become more mature politically, and competitive over time, our labor costs have of course risen in tandem. Part of my position involved the need to explain to these Taiwanese entrepreneurs that the Czech Republic wasn't a Central European dumping ground, and that we weren't advertising ourselves as such, despite the conventional wisdom. Competitiveness wasn't to be sacrificed on the altar of expediency."

Král characterizes the overall lifestyle in Taiwan as being extremely efficient. "They don't waste too much time deliberating on things, unlike we Czechs. They're a wonderfully well-connected and gifted society. Education levels are very high, and everything functions according to a rigid scheme. Things connect together very well, and people are ashamed not to be doing something constructive at all times when it comes to work. Actually, it's so well organized that I and my family became very accustomed to it. I shall miss it."

Over 91 percent of businesses in Taiwan are classified as SMEs, or small and midsize enterprises, he adds. Unemployment is extremely low, and Král recalls how he couldn't stop laughing the first time he watched a televised newscast that sounded alarms about how Taiwan's unemployment figures had risen slightly above 4 percent.

"I remember that they were predicting a total economic meltdown. Here we're battling at 8 percent, and we think that's progressive!"

Král describes his position in Taiwan as straddling a very delicate line. "We realize the position Taiwan finds itself in is a very uncertain and existential one. In everything we do down there, it's always two parts diplomacy to one part business. Our aim has always been not to commit the same mistakes as some of the developed Western countries in respect of Taiwan."

While Král continues to be in the Foreign Affairs Ministry's employment, much of his recent work since returning from Asia has been mainly of a "freelance" variety. His expertise is highly sought-after among his colleagues and fellow civil servants in the ministry over business lunches, and he's always ready to advise a Taiwanese colleague or two on the characteristics of the local market in any industry sector, including tourism.

"By 2007, we'll have over 1,000 Taiwanese tourists in the country per month, and this will be the primary vehicle to introduce prospective investors to the country," he says. "Last month alone, we had over 20 different tour groups on direct flights from Taipei to Vienna, busing it into Prague, which totaled over 650 travelers."

Taiwanese citizens who wish to visit the Czech Republic can obtain a simple 90-day visa from any Czech Embassy or consulate for 1,200 Kč ($55), which makes the process of coming here easy, Král says.

Král has also been noticing another fascinating trend, especially among the business-traveling set: Taiwanese businessmen are increasingly coming to the Czech Republic to live.

And what of his own permanent home after a life of successes abroad, sometimes in exotic locales? Returning to Prague would seem to offer little of the fast-paced expatriate lifestyle he's used to, after all.

"You know, when you've been traveling around the world for as long as I have, the adjustment process is a snap," he says. "I don't suffer from the same culture shocks any longer, and my family is fully behind me in anything I do. Plus, in terms of linguistic skills, everyone speaks English around the world so we've never had much of a problem integrating. Even my daughter speaks a little bit of the Mandarin dialect, which I'm sure she'll be grateful for later in life."

As for travel in the opposite direction, most Czechs are unaware that they have special status in Taiwan. In fact, Král says, they are eligible for "landing visas" the instant they arrive at the airport in Taipei, a visa category the Czech Republic eliminated in 2000. In other words, Czechs don't have to apply to anyone to visit Taiwan.

"For Czechs, Taiwan is still considered too far and too exotic," he says. "Taking into consideration the time difference, linguistic barriers and the fact that it's still a rather expensive prospect for most Czechs, don't expect to see a sudden spike in the number of travelers from the Czech Republic heading down there soon. China, at least for now, still holds the popular interest amongst Czechs, and the number of Czech Sinologists has been increasing steadily every year."

Clearly, despite the delicate political balance, this diplomat has thoroughly enjoyed fostering relations with an island many hesitate to embrace.