Pro-Tibet activists deface Chinese flags as President Xi arrives in Prague State of the State

He later went to Strahov Monastery where he drank a small glass of beer with Czech President Miloš Zeman on the terrace. Yang said China is ready to take the opportunity of the MoU to promote cooperation with the CEE region and contribute to the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative. Although a small country, with a population of about 10 million, the Czech Republic has a decisive role in Central and Eastern Europe concerning its geographic location and economic strength. President Zeman was the only European head of state to attend the military parade in Beijing last September, commemorating Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II. Xi Jinping’s delegation in Prague includes representatives of other significant Chinese banks which are largely interested in launching investments and activities in the Czech Republic, Sobotka said, cited by Ayrer. It is considered as the first state visit by a Chinese president since diplomatic ties were established with the former Czechoslovakia nearly seven decades ago. That summit saw China sign deals to construct a high-speed railroad linking Budapest and Belgrade, as well as promising to invest in unnamed “ports and industrial parks of the coastal areas of the Adriatic Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea”. The two countries issued a joint statement on lifting their ties to a strategic partnership after the talks, in which the two sides agreed to continue making close high-level contacts as the exemplary for over-all relations, enhancing friendly cooperation between ministries, legislative bodies and local governments. Francois Godement, director of the Asia and China program and a senior fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations, told CNBC earlier this week that Beijing holds all the cards in the relationship. The Czech Republic is committed to becoming a gateway for China to the European Union and a hub of transportation, logistics and finance, he said. That marks a sharp contrast with the Czech Republic’s first post-communist president, Vaclav Havel, a Soviet-era dissident and personal friend of Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Twelve people were detained after replacing some of the Chinese flags decorating the main route from the airport to the city centre with Tibetan ones and a group of Chinese nationals waiting to welcome the president en route to his hotel got into a scuffle with protesters out to remind the Chinese leader of his country’s human rights violations. The other document was signed by Hasek in his capacity as the Czech Wine Growers’ Fund with a Chinese exporter in support of the Czech wine exports to China. His pro-China remarks have drawn criticism from the opposition, with former finance minister Miroslav Kalousek accusing the president of “bootlicking authoritarian and unfree regimes”. On a previous 2014 trip, Zeman said he had come to China to “learn how to increase economic growth and how to stabilise society” rather than “teach market economy or human rights”. Prague is the only stop in Europe for Xi, who is on his way to the United States.