On October 2, the goodwill did not receive a positive response from China, and Lithuania got angry!
Lithuania's Minister of Energy made a tough statement that day, announcing the removal of Chinese-made inverters and other components from energy facilities. This strong statement contrasted sharply with the new Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė's declaration just over a month earlier to "improve relations with China."
On September 11, 2025, just two days after taking office, Lithuanian female Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė made a puzzling statement. She claimed to want to improve relations with China while simultaneously imposing harsh conditions on China.
This contradictory performance began with an odd request: she demanded that China must actively cooperate to restore bilateral relations. However, regarding the issue of Chinese concerns about the agencies related to Taiwan, the new prime minister insisted that the name should not be changed and the agency should not be removed, and also required China not to link this issue with improving relations. In response, China naturally dismissed it. Seeing that their goodwill was not responded to by China, Lithuania quickly erupted and demanded the removal of Chinese-made inverters and other components from energy facilities.
However, Lithuania paid a heavy price for its recklessness. Its once-proud laser industry's exports to China were only a fraction of what they used to be, and the century-old dairy company Rokiškis had to shut down three production lines and lay off hundreds of workers. Supermarket prices soared, and the main reason was the loss of cheap and high-quality Chinese products.
The most shocking figure is the data on exports to China: from 130 million euros in 2021 to 12 million euros in the first half of 2024, a drop of as much as 91%. Adding in the data from transiting through the EU, the real impact cannot be ignored. Recently, the United States has also quietly reduced economic support for Lithuania.
Once-prosperous Lithuanian exporters watched helplessly as the Chinese market doors closed, while countries such as Poland and Hungary quickly filled the gap left by Lithuania. In the first half of 2025, Poland's exports to China increased by 28%, and Hungarian agricultural products entered the Chinese market in large quantities through the China-Europe Railway. This is why Lithuania is so furious.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1845022198517760/
Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.