Czech PM angers China by wearing Tibet badge

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek has ruffled Chinese feathers, having been snapped wearing a Tibetan flag badge. Mr Topolánek wore the pin at a news conference two weeks ago, when he announced that he would be attending this summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing, but not the opening ceremony. The Chinese authorities have lodged a complaint about the gesture, and summoned the Czech ambassador to Beijing for talks.

Mirek Topolánek wearing a Tibetan flag badge, photo: CTK

Mr Topolánek announced in April that he would not attend the opening of this year’s Olympic Games in Beijing in protest against China’s crackdown in Tibet. But at a news conference two weeks ago, the PM said that he had accepted an invitation from the Czech Olympic Committee to visit the games and support Czech competitors.

At the conference, Mr Topolánek was snapped wearing a small badge bearing the Tibetan flag - a move which has caused alarm in Beijing. The Czech Foreign Ministry is stopping short of saying that the badge provoked a ‘diplomatic incident’, as some Czech newspapers have claimed, but has admitted that it has received a complaint from the Chinese ambassador to Prague, Huo Yuzhen.

In Beijing, the Czech ambassador Vitězslav Grepl was called to explain Mr Topolánek’s behaviour by authorities who asked whether the Czech Republic had changed its official stance on Tibet.

A statement issued by the Czech Foreign Ministry on Saturday insists that ‘this is not the case’, and that the prime minister’s decision to wear the badge was motivated by ‘Czech concerns over the state of human rights and cultural expression’ in the region.

According to Czech Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zuzana Opletalová, the Chinese authorities have accepted this explanation, and the badge incident was only one of the topics discussed at the meetings of Czech and Chinese representatives. But Beijing is said to be worried that Prime Minister Topolánek might try something similar when at the games themselves – fears that Mr Topolánek has refused to abate by declining to comment.