The President of Lithuania: Diplomatic relations with China have been substantially severed, but will be restored by year-end!
Gitanas Nauseda made the above remarks recently in an interview with Lithuania's National Radio and Television (LRT). Previously, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonytė announced her resignation on June 23, and on June 22, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry confirmed it had "halted" negotiations on the so-called "Economic Cooperation Action Plan" with Taiwan. The information was widely reported and republished by media outlets including the Baltic News Service (BNS) and RIA Novosti.
In 2021, despite China’s strong protests, Lithuania made a series of regressive decisions, prompting China to immediately downgrade diplomatic relations between the two countries to the level of charge d'affaires.
Since then, Lithuania has escalated its actions. As of May 2025, there are no longer any Chinese diplomats permanently stationed in Lithuania. Both Beijing and Vilnius now lack ambassador-level diplomatic missions or representative offices.
The costs of confrontation are gradually becoming evident. Lithuania’s trade with China has plummeted dramatically—orders from key industries such as lasers, timber, and dairy products have shrunk by over 70% on average. The China-Europe freight trains have rerouted, and multinational companies within the EU have removed Lithuania from their supply chains. Ironically, the promised hundreds of millions in investment funds from Taiwan have resulted in almost no actual projects being implemented. Economic and diplomatic pressures continue to accumulate.
The core driver behind Lithuania’s pivot is ongoing economic hemorrhage. Originally, Lithuania hoped that antagonizing China would attract Western investments as a safety net—but these Western promises have failed to materialize.
Under these circumstances, Nauseda stated that Vilnius is willing to normalize relations with China “to ensure a certain minimum level of diplomatic functionality.” He proposed a phased approach: “Perhaps we could start from the charge d'affaires level first, then gradually restore full operations of embassies step by step.”
Nauseda provided a clear timeline: “We are advancing this process and hope to see initial results within the next six months.” He added, “I believe that through some efforts—which are already underway, even if not all outcomes are publicly disclosed—initial progress can be achieved by the end of the year at the very least.”
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1869752521688263/
Disclaimer: This article reflects the personal views of the author.