Taiwan lashes out at Beijing in global call to stand by Lithuania

Name: Why has the relationship between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan taken a turn for the worse?
Uploaded: 2021-08-24T10:22:17.000Z
Duration: 10 min 22 s
Description: Why has the relationship between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan taken a turn for the worse?

Ties with Lithuania based on shared values of freedom, democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law, Taipei’s foreign ministry asserts

Visit by head of Lithuania’s Taiwanese relations group tipped to further provoke Beijing, which has imposed a slew of sanctions over de facto embassy row

Reading Time:2 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

The Lithuanian Embassy in Beijing. China demanded Lithuania recall its ambassador after Vilnius allowed Taiwan to set up an office under its own name. Photo: AFP

Lawrence Chung

Published: 6:22pm, 24 Aug 2021Updated: 9:54pm, 24 Aug 2021

Taiwan lashed out at “autocratic” Beijing as it sought international support for Lithuania on Tuesday, in the latest round of a diplomatic tussle prompted by the planned opening of a “Taiwanese representative office” in the Baltic state.

Lithuania in July agreed to allow Taipei to open a de facto embassy using the name “Taiwan” later this year – becoming the first country with formal ties with Beijing to do so.

An enraged Beijing then not only recalled its ambassador to Vilnius and demanded that Lithuania do the same, but also slapped the country with a series of sanctions in retaliation.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry has strongly opposed Beijing attempts to use sanctions to try to force Lithuania to retract its decision.

“The foreign ministry is closely watching a series of complex retaliatory actions from the Chinese autocratic regime in coercing and threatening Lithuania, which includes suspension of the review of food imports [from Lithuania] and exports of key raw materials to [it], as reported by Lithuanian news media,” Tsui Ching-lin, the ministry’s deputy spokesman, said in Taipei on Tuesday.

10:22

Why has the relationship between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan taken a turn for the worse?

Tsui said other retaliatory measures by the Chinese mainland included downgrading diplomatic relations, staging military drills near Taiwan to warn both Vilnius and Taipei, and sending hackers to try to disrupt normal operations in the Baltic state.

“Taiwan and Lithuania are friendly partners sharing the values of freedom, democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law, and, in the face of endless coercion and threats from [Beijing], Taiwan has never changed its determination to actively explore relations with Lithuania and other Baltic nations,” he said.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x