“Taiwan Representative Office” set up in Lithuania

Taiwan formally established a “Taiwan Representative Office” in Lithuania on the 18th . This is Taiwan’s first foreign embassy in Europe under the name of “Taiwan”. On the 19th , Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian threatened to say, “We can wait and see what necessary measures China will take.” The Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Taiwan’s representative office in Vilnius has been opened to develop economic relations, but It will not have a diplomatic status.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan announced that the ” The Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania ” ( The Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania ) was formally established and put into operation on the 18th , opening a new page for exchanges and cooperation between Taiwan and Lithuania . The first representative in Lithuania will be Huang Junyao, the current representative in Latvia.

Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ou Jiang: “Taiwan legislature has a huge potential for cooperation in the industrial field of semiconductors, lasers, finance and science and technology, trade and investment in the three countries in Eastern Europe Delegation 10 in late May a successful visit to Lithuania, the two sides signed 6 Xiang memorandum of cooperation, common Draw a blueprint for close cooperation in the future and lay a solid foundation for friendly cooperation. In the future, we will continue to share core values and strive to promote the friendship between the two peoples.”

According to Lithuanian State Radio and Television (LRT), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, “Taiwan’s representative office in Vilnius has been opened to develop economic relations, but it will not have a diplomatic status.”

“Our goal is to establish a closer relationship with Asia or the Indo-Pacific region. Recently, we have opened an embassy in Australia, and we also plan to open an embassy in South Korea, perhaps as early as this year and next year in Singapore. It may also be in the future. Set up a representative office in Taipei at some point, ” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told reporters on Thursday when commenting on the opening of the Taiwan office.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian responded on the 19th that the Lithuanian government, in spite of China’s strong opposition and repeated persuasion, approved the Taiwan authorities to establish the so-called ” Taiwan Representative Office in Lithuania . ” This action created ” one China, one Taiwan ” in the world , and flagrantly violated the one China principle. , To abandon the Lifang’s political commitment in the communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Zhao Lijian also demanded that the Lifang rectify the wrong decision immediately, and at the same time warned the Taiwan authorities that they had miscalculated in their vain attempt to seek ” independence ” by foreigners, and were doomed to fail.

Zhao Lijian finally said, “We can wait and see what necessary measures China will take. The blame will be taken by itself, and it will surely bear the fruit.”

The establishment of the “Taiwan Representative Office in Lithuania” can be said to have been a series of twists and turns. Since Taiwan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Wu Zhaoxie announced in July this year that the “Taiwan Representative Office in Lithuania” would be established in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has taken a series of economic sanctions. Press Lithuania. On the other hand, US Secretary of State Blincoln met with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Lance Burgess in Washington in September this year . Brinken stated that “Lithuania and the United States are very strong partners of NATO”. He also praised Lithuania for supporting Belarus and Taiwan; many members of the European Parliament also expressed support for Lithuania.

“This is already the name that most directly reflects the subjectivity of Taiwan in the absence of formal diplomatic relations and diplomatic relations. Of course, this matter is the decision of Lithuania as a sovereign country. The recognition of the United States.” Tan Yaonan, chairman of the Cross-Strait Policy Association, interpreted the symbolic meaning of the name “Taiwan Representative Office in Lithuania” during an interview with this station.

Tan Yaonan explained that this matter is not just a decision made solely from a single country in Lithuania. It may represent the overall European countries and the United States. Taiwan and other countries have been directly renamed without diplomatic relations or formal diplomatic relations. “Taiwan”, such a trend and direction, was first proposed by a relatively small country in Lithuania but very close to Russia.

Tan Yaonan:. “So China also know that this is not just a single event in Lithuania only, so China’s reaction is very strong because he sees the next trend, so-called ‘ rectification of names ‘ movement, many other European countries, including the United States, are It is possible that similar or exactly the same actions are being carried out. This is initiated by the sovereign states of Europe and the United States. It is not our Taiwan unilaterally. We have not even taken the initiative to promote this matter.”

Tan Yaonan said that no matter how strong China protests or reacts strongly, it will not be effective. This represents a further strengthening of Taiwan’s relations with major European and American countries. Tan Yaonan expects that in the short term, “the relationship between the United States, Europe and China will continue to be in a highly competitive, slow but obviously deteriorating state.”

Former Taiwan Foreign Minister Cheng Jianren told this station that diplomacy is a step-by-step approach, not like turning a book, one turning is another page ( page ) . 0207 “Clearly, now the government’s policy is to use ‘ Taiwan ‘ to replace ‘ Taipei ‘ , but can do much to look at.”

Cheng Jianren analyzed that the current world atmosphere is a little bit “anti-China” and “hostile to China”, whether it is in the large countries of the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Germany, France, Australia and Japan. He mentioned that 1971 Nian the rise of China now, the United States found China to catch up with the whole strategy adjustment, the Chinese mainland had to keep doing Partnership (Partnership,) , now becomes a rival (Adversary , opponent) . The change in the entire strategy is not only the military, economic, trade, and diplomatic policy. “Lithuania has changed, whether the United States has changed, the United States has changed it will be more serious!”

Chinese state media Xinhua News Agency mentioned on the 19th that it warned Lithuania to immediately correct its wrong decision and make up for it.

According to the Taiwan Media Central News Agency, Lithuania ‘s first head of state after regaining independence in 1990 , Vytautas. Blue Sibal Guise ( Vytautas Landsbergis ) went to congratulate the Taiwan Representative Office. He is the grandfather of the current Lithuanian Foreign Minister Lance Burgess.

In an interview with Lithuanian media, Pavelionis, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Lithuanian National Assembly, said, “This is a victory for the free and democratic world.” He revealed that he had spoken with Pavel Fischer , Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security of the Czech Senate . He also expressed his great expectation that under the new Czech government, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Czech Republic can also be named “Taiwan”. He also expects the Czech Republic and other Central and Eastern European countries to follow Lithuania and withdraw from the 17+1 interaction mechanism with Beijing .