International relations The United States reaffirmed its support for Lithuania, which has faced severe pressure from China

Abroad|International relations

United States gave its support to Lithuania, which has ended a trade war with China, early on Saturday. The news agencies Reuters and AFP, among others, reported on the matter.

U.S. Foreign Trade Representative Katherine Tain was reported by the Vice-President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskisin with. Tain is said to have expressed “strong US support for the EU and Lithuania in the face of commercial pressure from the People’s Republic of China”. On Wednesday, Tai expressed U.S. support for the Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis.

China has blocked Lithuanian exports to China and closed the bank accounts of Lithuanian companies in its territory.

Read more: China has launched a severe trade war against Lithuania, which threatens to bring the small Baltic country to its knees – Why is Lithuania challenging China in a way that Finland and many bigger people do not dare to?

Underlying the trade war is the deterioration in relations between the two countries after Lithuania allowed Taiwan to open a mission in Vilnius in July. This infuriated the Chinese administration, which sees Taiwan as part of China.

China withdrew its ambassador from Lithuania in August, and the Lithuanian ambassador left China in September. In early December, China was reported to have removed Lithuania from its customs system, which China denied. Later that month, the staff of the Lithuanian embassy left China.

Of the United States Tai emphasized the importance of the EU community. In the view of the United States, EU member states should resort to diplomatic and commercial coercion. According to Tain, these could be done, for example, through the US-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC).

However, China is a difficult piece for both the European Union and the United States. Both have set out to defend Lithuania and ostensibly threaten China with action, but are officially following the so-called one-China policy.

The dual action of the United States in the matter was most recently raised by the President Joe Biden at the Democracy Summit to which Taiwan was invited, but China was not. When the Taiwanese minister presented a map showing China and Taiwan in different colors during his speech, the speaker and the map quickly disappeared from view.