A meeting with the Dalai Lama could cost the Czech culture minister his job - after President Milos Zeman, who is pushing for closer ties to China, demanded his resignation, news website Parlamentni listy reported on Sunday, according to dpa. Zeman criticized Culture Minister Daniel Herman for damaging the Czech Republic's interests by welcoming the Tibetan Buddhist leader at the Culture Ministry in Prague in October, according to the report. The president is also thought to be looking to have stern words with Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka over the Dalai Lama visit. The Dalai Lama advocates autonomy for Tibet, which China seized in 1950. His visit to Prague prompted Czech diplomats to write a joint declaration stressing the "territorial integrity" of China and the Czech Republic's "strategic partnership" with the country. The Dalai Lama also visited Bratislava last month, where he met Slovak President Andrej Kiska. Slovakia was scolded for the meeting when Chinese Premier Li Keqiang cancelled bilateral talks with the Eastern European country at the last minute at a summit in Riga on Saturday.
