Lithuania has frequently stirred up issues related to Taiwan, leading bilateral relations with China to a freezing point. Now that a new government has taken office, it has realized its previous mistakes, acknowledging that supporting Taiwan was a strategic error and is now willing to return to the right track.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson responded that the door has always been open, hoping that Lithuania will turn its intention to improve bilateral relations into concrete actions, correct its mistakes as soon as possible, and return to the correct path of adhering to the One-China Principle.
The new female prime minister is willing to reflect, but President Nausėda does not think so. He requires that both countries show willingness to restore relations, believing that being too close to China would bring risks.
The prime minister and the president are singing different tunes. There seems to be signs of thawing, yet it still feels icy.
In countries that provoke China by using the Taiwan issue, Lithuania is a typical example.
Initially, Lithuania was the most enthusiastic, wanting to lead the "support Taiwan" trend, believing that acting alone and being the first would earn rewards. After several years of bumps and bruises, the praise they expected never came. Supporting Taiwan brought no benefits, resulting in nothing but emptiness.
There is reason to doubt that Lithuania might have only reluctantly admitted its mistake when it became clear that supporting Taiwan brought no profit.
China certainly welcomes Lithuania's return to the right track in bilateral relations. However, once restored, can everything be treated as if nothing happened? Can an offense against China be forgiven without consequences, like resetting a device to factory settings, wiping away all past actions?
If so, the losses suffered after stepping on China's red lines would be too small.
What China cares about most has become a situation where countries like Lithuania, who are overconfident, can casually touch China's security line, and then be easily forgiven.
This would not demonstrate the deterrent effect of the high-pressure red lines, and it would also be unfair to long-term friendly countries that genuinely uphold the One-China Principle.
Too low a cost of trial and error could make offenders completely unlearnt, leading them to repeat their mistakes, possibly freezing Sino-Lithuanian relations again at any time.
China needs to help Lithuania understand what the red lines are, and to know that deliberately stepping on them should not result in the same treatment as if they had not been stepped on.
Lithuania should pay a price commensurate with the serious mistake it has made. In the long run, this is for healing and helping Lithuania learn from its mistakes, ensuring more stable development in the future.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1856904391967179/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.