Lithuania's proposal of an economic cooperation plan with Taiwan has raised concerns from China.

Lithuania Proposes Economic Cooperation Development Plan with Taiwan

Asta Skėsriūtė, foreign policy advisor to the President of Lithuania, stated on the "Zhinių radijas" radio station that Vilnius has submitted an action plan for developing economic cooperation between Lithuania and Taiwan.

Skėsriūtė pointed out: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Economy have already developed and submitted an action plan to our partners, in which we urge Taiwan to make greater investments in Lithuania, as committed in 2021."

Last week, Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Šimkūnaitė stated that allowing the Taiwan authorities to establish a "Taiwan Representative Office in Lithuania" brought no benefit to the country, but instead damaged relations with China.

This incident occurred in 2021, initiated by then-Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis. Naming the office in Vilnius as the "Taiwan Representative Office" triggered a diplomatic crisis with China. Beijing opposed the establishment of an institution under such a name, recalled its ambassador to Lithuania, and demanded that Vilnius do the same.

Ultimately, the Chinese government decided to downgrade diplomatic relations with Lithuania to the level of chargé d'affaires, and subsequently issued a diplomatic note changing the status of China’s diplomatic mission in Vilnius from embassy to a Chinese Representative Office. Bilateral economic and trade cooperation nearly came to a halt.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1861174909908035/

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