China on Tuesday blasted Czech President-elect Petr Pavel after his phone call the previous day with the president and Taiwan’s foreign minister.
China claims Taiwan as an integral part of its territory and seeks to keep Taipei isolated on the world stage.
“Mr. Pavel (…) trampled on China’s red line,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
“She seriously interferes in China’s internal affairs and has hurt the feelings of the Chinese people,” she added.
Beijing called on Prague to “immediately take effective measures to eliminate the negative impact of this incident and prevent irreparable damage to Sino-Czech relations,” Mao said.
Mr Pavel, who won Saturday’s presidential election, will replace incumbent President Milos Zeman, who is pro-China, on March 9.
Earlier this month, Mr Zeman had a 45-minute video call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom he calls his friend, and praised the “friendly relations” between the two countries.
Mr Pavel, meanwhile, spoke with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who congratulated him on his victory over populist billionaire Andrej Babis.
“I thanked her for her congratulations and assured that Taiwan and the Czech Republic share the (same) values of freedom, democracy and human rights,” Pavel said in a tweet.
“We agreed to strengthen our partnership,” added the former general, who headed NATO’s military committee.
He “also expressed the hope of having the opportunity to meet President Tsai in person.”
The Taiwanese Presidency said the call, which was also attended by Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, lasted nearly 15 minutes.
“The Head of State (…) confirmed that President-elect Pavel continues the spirit of former Czech President (Vaclav) Havel, who respected democracy, freedom and human rights, the foundations of the republic, and shares the same ideas as Taiwan,” das said Ms. Tsai’s office in a statement.
Vaclav Havel was the first President of the Czech Republic from 1993 to 2003.
Mao said Beijing had urged Prague to “ruthlessly adhere to its political commitment to the one-China principle,” which is upheld by the European Union.
In a radio interview on Sunday, Pavel said the one China policy should be complemented by a principle of “two systems” policy.