Carrot vs stick: Taiwan and China’s row over Lithuania leads to political brawl in Vilnius

Taipei says it will set up a US$200 million investment fund for Lithuanian industries, while Beijing seeks Vilnius’ retreat on ‘Taiwanese Representative Office’

Both responses follow remarks by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda that allowing that official name had been ‘a mistake’

Reading Time:4 minutes

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda set off a domestic political dispute when he said on Tuesday that the naming of the “Taiwan Representative Office” had been “a mistake”. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 5:44am, 6 Jan 2022Updated: 5:06pm, 6 Jan 2022

The new year has begun with a familiar saga: Taipei and Beijing’s tug of war over Lithuania has rumbled into 2022.

An unofficial mainland Chinese blockade of Lithuanian-made goods and components continued this week, according to business leaders in Vilnius, dividing political and public opinion as to the wisdom of permitting the opening of a “Taiwanese Representative Office” in the capital.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis says President Nauseda was constantly consulted about the move. Photo: AFP

The row has ignited domestic political rifts in the Baltic state, and exposed the European Union’s limited options in defending a member from alleged economic bullying by Beijing, which has been infuriated by the affair.

Beijing considers the self-ruled island of Taiwan a wayward province that eventually must reunite with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda on Tuesday said that the naming of the de facto embassy had been “a mistake”, even if the country was right to host a Taiwanese mission of some sort.

He also complained that he had not been consulted on the move – a charge Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis denied on Wednesday. Landsbergis said the president had been consulted all along.