China will cut off engagement with Czech President Petr Pavel over his meeting with the Dalai Lama last month, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.
“In disregard of China’s repeated protests and strong opposition, Czech President Petr Pavel went to India to meet with the Dalai Lama,” said ministry spokesman Lin Jian.
He added: “This seriously contravenes the political commitment made by the Czech government to the Chinese government, and harms China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“China strongly deplores and firmly opposes this, and has lodged serious protests with the Czech side. In light of the severity of Pavel’s provocative action, China decides to cease all engagement with him.”
The Dalai Lama has been living in exile in India since 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet.
Pavel met the leader of Tibetan Buddhism on July 27. He was not accompanied by anyone from the his office during this visit.
Pavel’s office said the visit was at the invitation of the Dalai Lama, who was celebrating his 90th birthday.
“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 in Prague.
Meanwhile, Czech politicians have visited Taiwan, a territory that China claims, and then-Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen visited Prague last October towards the end of her term.