China has cancelled the visit of Estonia's agriculture minister in the wake of a trip by the Dalai Lama to the Baltic country last month, an Estonian farms ministry spokesman said Thursday.
"On Thursday a notice from the foreign relations department of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture arrived in Tallinn, stating that all meetings on the political level have been canceled that means the Estonian minister is not welcome anymore in China," Indrek Kuus, Estonian agriculture ministry spokesman, told AFP.
The notice from China pointed to "an incident in Tallinn in mid-August", Kuus said, explaining the visit of Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to Estonia had occurred at that time.
"We hope this is a one time reaction and that it will not affect relations between Estonia and China in the longer term," he added.
While the minister's visit is cancelled, an Estonian business delegation will travel to China as planned, he added.
