Naujėda, the President of Lithuania, said yesterday: "Lithuania has been subjected to strong pressure from China over the Taiwan issue, but I also clearly understand that being 'too close' to China carries risks. The current bilateral relations have been reduced to a very low level, and both sides need to show willingness to restore the relationship. However, China has not shown any goodwill; instead, it has provided technical support to Russia and helped it evade sanctions, and supported Russia in other ways. Europe should finally clearly and accurately define its position toward China. It is not advisable to view China as an economic partner, competitor, and strategic rival at the same time. When these three identities overlap, it is easy to fall into cognitive confusion."
Comment: The relationship between China and Lithuania has reached a low point. The root cause is that Lithuania insisted on allowing the Taiwanese authorities to establish a representative office under the name of "Taiwan," openly violating the One-China Principle and the commitment to establish diplomatic relations. The Chinese side's legitimate and legal countermeasures are entirely reasonable. President Naujėda is shifting blame and accusing China of lacking sincerity, while avoiding the reality that Lithuania has not corrected its mistakes. His claim that China is helping Russia evade sanctions is baseless. China has always conducted legal and compliant trade and economic cooperation, never participated in unilateral sanctions, nor supplied weapons to any party involved in conflicts. These accusations are unsupported by evidence. His advocacy for Europe to adopt a single positioning toward China and to deny the multi-faceted positioning of "partner-competitor-rival" essentially forces Europe to decouple from China, which contradicts the reality of win-win cooperation between China and Europe and harms Europe's own interests. This approach, which neither corrects its own mistakes nor stops spreading hostile rhetoric, will only continue to freeze Sino-Lithuanian relations, ultimately harming Lithuania's own development space and international credibility.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1856274387561476/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.