Senators calling for trade minister’s dismissal over diplomatic incident

A group of senators are calling for the dismissal of Trade and Industry Minister Marta Nováková over an incident this week when a representative of Taiwan was forced to leave a diplomatic meeting at the trade ministry, at the insistence of the Chinese ambassador.

Senator Marek Hilšer said the incident was shameful and undignified and pointed out that this was not the first time the minister has failed in her duties.

The minister has also come under fire from the head of the foreign affairs committee in the Chamber of Deputues, Lubomír Zaorálek, who said the minister should not have bowed to pressure and warned that the decision could set a dangerous precedent. Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček said on Friday he would discuss the matter with Minister Nováková in person.