Chinese officials cancelled a planned visit to China by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra after the group refused to sign a letter condemning the decision by the city to withdraw from its partnership agreement with Beijing. Prague’s city council voted to cancel its sister-city agreement with Beijing, originally signed in 2016 prior to a visit to Prague by Chinese president Xi Jinping, after it failed to remove a clause pledging a commitment to the “one China” policy. The policy stipulates that Taiwan remains a part of the Chinese state, and recognizes Beijing as its sole representative. The cancellation of the Prague Philharmonic’s visit to China comes after the city’s Chinese embassy released a statement on its Facebook page urging Prague officials to reconsider, otherwise “it will eventually hurt its own interests”. The orchestra incurred a loss of “several million Czech crowns” according to its director Radim Otepka.