HONG KONG (Reuters) -China said it “resolutely opposed” Czech President Petr Pavel’s meeting in India with Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, and urged the Czech side to “abide by its one-China political commitment” and maintain healthy and stable relations.
China’s embassy in the Czech Republic posted the notice late on Sunday and said China firmly opposes any form of contact between officials of any country and the Dalai “clique”.
The Czech presidential office said Pavel met the Dalai Lama “on a purely private trip” at the end of a working visit to Japan.
“China urges the Czech side to abide by its one-China political commitment, take immediate and effective measures to eliminate the bad influence,” the Chinese embassy said.
It added that the Czech side should stop sending “any wrong signals to ‘Tibetan independence’ separatist forces.”
The Dalai Lama has been living in exile in India since 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet, and Indian foreign relations experts say his presence gives New Delhi leverage against China.
India is also home to about 70,000 Tibetans and a Tibetan government-in-exile.
Pavel’s office said the visit was at the invitation of the Dalai Lama, who was celebrating his 90th birthday. Pavel was not accompanied by anyone from the his office.
“The President took the opportunity to separate from the delegation during his return from a working visit to Japan to personally congratulate the Dalai Lama,” the presidential office said.
The Czech Republic’s first post-communist president, Vaclav Havel, was a personal friend of the Dalai Lama.
Czech relations with China have cooled in recent years. The Czechs accused China in May of being behind a cyberattack on the foreign ministry, while Czech politicians have visited Taiwan and former Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen visited Prague last October.
(Reporting by Farah Master and the Beijing newsroom, and Jason Hovet in Prague; editing by Giles Elgood)
