Majority of Czechs think declaration reassuring China was excessive

The majority of Czechs think the declaration on Czech-Chinese relations issued by the country’s key officials during a visit by the Dalai Lama was excessive and uncalled for, according to an outcome of a survey conducted by the polling agency Nielsen Admosphere for Czech Television. Forty-two percent of respondents said the declaration was excessive, while 11 percent described it as unusual, but necessary. Twenty percent of respondents consider it standard procedure, while four percent said it did not go far enough. The declaration signed by the president, prime minister and the heads of both chambers of Parliament said the Czech Republic fully respected China’s territorial integrity and emphasized that the Tibetan spiritual leader’s presence in the Czech Republic did not signal a change in the country’s foreign policy in relations with China. In a related poll, 69 percent of respondents said the Czech culture minister was fully entitled to meet with the Dalai Lama even if it angered China, 17 percent said the meeting should not have taken place.