Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has called it a mistake to open an official representative office of Taiwan in Vilnius, rather than its capital Taipei, as it provoked a strong reaction from China
“I believe it was not the opening of the Taiwan representative office that was a mistake, but the name that was not agreed upon with me”, – Nauseda said.
Relations between Lithuania and China deteriorated after an official Taiwan office was opened in Vilnius. The Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a note of protest to Lithuania and later unilaterally downgraded diplomatic relations with Lithuania to the level of chargé d’affaires.
Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, has missions in most countries, which helps to avoid conflicts with China.
The Lithuanian president said that Lithuania and Taiwan could open representative offices without diplomatic status, but expressed regret that “the name of the representative office was a determining factor that had a very strong impact on relations with China”.
According to the President, China is applying “unconventional measures” to Lithuania and therefore Lithuania should clearly signal to the EU that “this is an attack, a certain pressure on one of the EU countries”, therefore he called on Europe to protect Vilnius from China.