China approves of Lithuanian reflection on Taiwan representative office name as ‘mistake’
- Lithuanian president says ‘Taiwanese Representative Office’ name affected country’s ties with China, but opening the office itself was not an error
- China’s foreign ministry says Lithuania’s recognition of its ‘mistake’ is a good start, but ‘action must be taken’
“Recognising a mistake is a step in the right direction, but more importantly, action must be taken,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday.
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The office in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, is one of many outposts in countries that do not maintain official ties with Taipei, but it was the first to bear the name “Taiwanese Representative Office”. Others have used “Taipei” instead to avoid characterising the self-ruled island as a sovereign nation and risk upsetting Beijing.
Beijing sees Taiwan as a province under the sovereignty of the People’s Republic of China, which is led by the government in Beijing. Taipei, under President Tsai Ing-wen of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, rejects this policy, saying the Republic of China, Taiwan’s formal name, is itself a sovereign state.
“The rights and wrongs behind the setback in China-Lithuania relations are clear,” Wang said. “Giving excuses for one’s own wrong actions does not help solve the problem, nor does it help improve China-Lithuania ties.”
He said the opening of the office had created the impression that China and Taiwan were equals, and action must be taken to reaffirm the one-China principle.
In the radio interview, Nauseda said he was not consulted about the name of the de facto embassy. “The name was the spark and now we have to deal with the consequences,” he said.
Those consequences, Nauseda said, were unconventional measures taken against Lithuania, and Vilnius needed to “very actively and clearly signal to the European Union that was an attack and a form of pressure on an EU member state”.
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Nauseda said Gabriel Landsbergis, the Lithuanian foreign minister, made decisions last year without fully assessing their consequences. Although the president did not name anyone, he also said some foreign policy decision makers in the country had to talk and reach a consensus among allies in the EU and across the Atlantic before acting.
Taiwanese foreign ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said the ministry did not generally comment on nations’ foreign policy, but it gravely condemned Beijing for exerting political pressure and economic sanctions on Lithuania.
“Taiwan will continue to support Lithuania in its economic and overall developments in the country,” she said.
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Beijing downgraded its diplomatic ties in protest after the office opened in November. There have been reports it had unofficially blocked Lithuanian exports from entering its market, a claim denied by China.
A Lithuanian trade representative office is scheduled to open in Taiwan early this year.
Additional reporting by Lawrence Chung
