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Protests as China's Xi arrives in Prague

29 March 2016 02:02 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Protests greeted President Xi Jinping as he arrived in Prague on Monday on the first visit by a Chinese head of state to the Czech Republic, APA reports quoting AFP.

Along the road leading from the airport, dozens of pro-Tibetan demonstrators scuffled with well-wishers who had turned out to welcome the Chinese leader on a visit which has seen Czech President Milos Zeman come under fire for his pro-China policies.

On Monday, in a park on the road from the airport, demonstrators put up a giant picture of the Dalai Lama with the late Czech president Vaclav Havel, a former dissident and human rights activist, with the words: "These gentlemen are at home here", recalling the Tibetan spiritual leader's frequent visits during Havel's presidency (1989-2003).

And at the weekend, dozens of Chinese flags hung up along the boulevard were defaced.

Although the ruined flags were replaced, dozens of demonstrators on Monday tried to hang Tibetan flags in their place, sparking scuffles with pro-Beijing supporters, the Czech news agency CTK reported.

Police said they had arrested 12 people.

Shouting also erupted in the park as Xi's supporters covered up the Dalai Lama billboard with giant Chinese flags, sparking a heated argument with the pro-Tibetan demonstrators, the agency said.

After Xi's arrival on a 48-hour visit focused on business cooperation, the Chinese leader met with Zeman at his official residence just outside Prague where the two leaders also planted a ginkgo biloba tree, holding watering cans adorned with Czech and Chinese flags, CTK said.