China downgraded diplomatic relations with Lithuania to the level of chargé d’affaires due to the fact that Vilnius approved the opening of a representative office of Taiwan. It is reported by TASS with reference to the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China.
The ministry said in a statement that, despite strong protests from China, Lithuania approved the establishment by the Taiwanese administration of the so-called “representative office of Taiwan in Lithuania.”
“China expresses strong dissatisfaction and strong protest in this regard, the Chinese side has decided to lower diplomatic relations between the two countries to the level of a charge d’affaires”, the Foreign Ministry added.
In early October, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said that the countries of the European Union (EU) should move their production from China due to its aggressive foreign policy rhetoric and concentrate them in countries with “Western thinking.”
Relations between Lithuania and China escalated in August, when the Lithuanian authorities officially agreed to open a representative office of Taiwan. Beijing expressed a strong protest against such a step, recalled its ambassador from Vilnius and asked the Lithuanian side to withdraw its representative from the PRC, which Vilnius did on September 3. Lithuania announced its intention to develop “mutually beneficial relations with Taiwan, as many other countries of the European Union and the rest of the world do.”
Taiwan, which is home to about 23 million people, bears the official name of the Republic of China and considers itself independent from the PRC. Only 15 countries of the world officially recognized it as a separate independent state, and Lithuania is not among them yet.
#China #downgraded #diplomatic #relations #Lithuania