Lany, Central Bohemia, March 28 (CTK) – Chinese President Xi Jinping met his Czech counterpart Milos Zeman at the presidential chateau in Lany shortly after 17:00 CEST yesterday.
Xi arrived in the Czech Republic at 13:40 CEST for a three-day visit. The key part of his programme will take place on Tuesday, including talks with Czech political leaders and signing a document on Chinese-Czech partnership. Xi is accompanied by a big delegation. On Wednesday, they will fly from Prague to the United States.
Xi’s convoy was guarded by a police helicopter on its way to Lany.
In Lany, Xi and Zeman planted a tree in the park that surrounds the chateau. A memorial plaque in Czech and Chinese remembering the tree planting has been installed in the park.
Zeman told Xi he would always water the tree, a ginkgo which is native in China, when he comes to Lany. Zeman then showed Xi a nearby greenhouse that has recently been reopened after its reconstruction.
The two heads of state have dinner together this evening and they will have official talks at Prague Castle tomorrow.
Zeman’s spokesman Jiri Ovcacek presented the menu on Twitter. A special Lany meat paste and local pastry will be followed by pheasant noodle soup. The main course will be a pheasant with bacon, noodles and potatoes and the cooks prepared a variety of sherbets as a dessert.
Ovcacek posted a photo of the presentation of the gifts on Twitter. Zeman received an armchair and a china set. The Czech Presidential Office said previously that Xi would get three pairs of shoes from the Bata company, which originated in the Czech Republic, and a cut glass bowl.
Xi is the first foreign president who met Zeman in Lany.
From the airport, Xi moved to Prague’s Hilton Hotel. The information on his accommodation has not been officially confirmed.
Several dozens of Chinese were waiting for Xi’s arrival in Lany.
The news server iHned.cz writes that the Chinese Embassy in Prague has been organising the welcoming by Chinese living in the country. The embassy transports them by buses to the places where Xi will appear and provides them with parade sticks, special read T-shirts and food, the server writes.
However, a group of human rights activists with Tibetan flags also gathered in Lany before Xi’s arrival.
“I don’t believe that our citizens want to bow before communist rulers again. I don’t believe that they will easily give up the values and ideals that contributed to the fall of the totalitarian regime in our country,” former Greens environment minister Martin Bursik said in a written statement sent to CTK.
About 2500 people signed a petition that criticises the Czech president and government for exchanging the defence of human rights for collaboration with the communist totalitarian China.
The petition says China commits crimes against humanity including murders and torture. Bursik, National Gallery director Jiri Fajt, Czech PEN club head Jiri Dedecek, priest Tomas Halik and film director Jan Sverak are among the signatories, the petition organisers write on their website.
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