China-EU relations: Lithuania says its rocky ties with Beijing are a ‘wake-up call’ for Europe

Europe must ‘get its act together’ regarding China if it seeks credibility and partnership with the US, Lithuania’s deputy foreign minister says

Lithuania’s move to leave the 17+1 mechanism was not anti-China but pro-Europe, Arnoldas Pranckevicius tells security forum in the US

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Trade disruptions sparked by China-Lithuania tensions put Lithuanian economic growth at risk. The country’s deputy foreign minister says the row is a wake-up call for fellow Europeans. Photo: Shutterstock Images

Published: 12:53pm, 4 Nov 2021Updated: 9:17pm, 4 Nov 2021

China’s treatment of Lithuania is a “wake-up call” for Europe, Lithuania’s deputy foreign minister said on Wednesday while calling for the European Union to be united in its dealings with Beijing.

China demanded in August that Lithuania withdraw its ambassador in Beijing after Taiwan announced that its office in Vilnius would be called the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania.

The country of about 3 million people this year also withdrew from a “17+1” dialogue mechanism between China and some Central and Eastern European countries, which the United States sees as an effort by Beijing to divide European diplomacy.

Trade disruptions sparked by the tensions have posed a risk to Lithuanian economic growth.

“I think it is a wake-up call in many ways, especially for fellow Europeans to understand that if you want to defend democracy you have to stand up for it,” Lithuanian vice-minister of foreign affairs Arnoldas Pranckevicius told a security forum in Washington.

In order for Europe to be credible in the world and as a partner for the US, it had to “get its act together vis-à-vis China”, Pranckevicius said.