Lithuania PM Calls Taiwanese Representative Office a 'Strategic Mistake'
Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene said opening a Taiwanese representative office in Lithuania was a strategic mistake. Her comments come as Vilnius tries to repair ties with Beijing.
REPORTER:
Opening a “Taiwanese” representative office in Lithuania was a strategic mistake. That’s the message from the country’s Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene, who made the remark in a recent interview with the Baltic News Service.
She said that while other European countries host Taiwanese offices, they use the name “Taipei,” which allows them to maintain diplomatic relations with China.
Beijing downgraded its ties with Lithuania shortly after the decision in 2021. It also aggressively pressured the Baltic nation with a range of punitive trade measures.
But Lithuania now wants to make things right with China. It’s the latest European nation to seek better ties with Beijing after Ruginiene took office last September. She set a goal to restore relations to the level maintained by other EU member states.
She says doing so requires a “very difficult and long path,” but that Lithuania must put its own interests first.
Ruginiene’s comments could come at the expense of ties with Taiwan, which flourished under Lithuania’s previous government. Taiwan’s foreign ministry has responded saying that the two countries are important partners.
The name the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania is a consensus reached by both sides.
Since the establishment of this office our government has promoted mutually beneficial and substantive cooperation in fields including laser tech, chips and finance creating significant economic benefits and making our democratic economies more resilient.
Beijing has not commented on Ruginiene’s latest remarks on the Taiwanese representative office. But a Friday editorial in state media the Global Times says an admission of a “mistake” is not enough.
And some in the prime minister’s government advise a more cautious approach to China. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda says improved relations with Beijing carries serious risks. And members of Lithuania’s parliament continue to visit Taiwan.
All that could mean that the prime minister’s goal of thawing ties with China will be more difficult than expected.
Joseph Wu and Lily LaMattina in Taipei for TaiwanPlus.
