Culture minister tweets that minute of silence by MPs honouring victims in Tibetan rebellion reportedly drew complaint from Chinese representatives

Culture Minister Daniel Herman, a member of the Christian Democratic Party, has tweeted that a recent minute of silence by MPs he initiated in the lower house to honour those who died in the 1959 Tibetan rebellion, reportedly drew a complaint from Chinese representatives, who allegedly said it could damage the upcoming visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Prague. The news was not confirmed by the Czech Foreign Ministry. A spokesman said the issue of honouring the victims had been discussed as one of several at a regular meeting with representatives from the Chinese embassy. The Czech Republic, according to a statement signed by Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek and his counterpart in 2014, does not support Tibetan independence in any form. All the same, on March 10 this year, some 700 institutions including schools in the Czech Republic took part in the international Flag for Tibet campaign.