China has officially downgraded diplomatic relations with Lithuania to the rank of “charge d’affaires,” the Foreign Ministry said on Sunday in protest after Taiwan established a de facto embassy in Vilnius.
“The Chinese government had to lower diplomatic relations between the two countries (…) in order to safeguard its sovereignty and the basic standards of international relations,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The Lithuanian government must assume all the consequences which result from it”, he adds, adding that his actions “have created a bad precedent on the international scene”.
Lithuania’s use of the term “Taiwan representative office” is a significant diplomatic gap that has challenged a lobbying campaign by China aimed at isolating the autonomous democratic island on the international stage.
Beijing added that Lithuania had “abandoned the political commitment made when establishing diplomatic relations” with China, in reference to the “one-China policy”, whereby countries officially recognize the Chinese government instead. than that of Taiwan.
Lithuania “regrets” China’s decision, reacted the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry. “Lithuania reaffirms its adherence to the ‘One China’ policy, but at the same time has the right to extend its cooperation with Taiwan,” including by establishing non-diplomatic missions, he said in a statement. communicated.
Only 15 countries officially recognize Taipei compared to Beijing, which claims the autonomous democratic island as part of its territory and has vowed to recapture it one day, by force if necessary.
China is working to keep Taipei isolated on the international stage and refuses any official use of the word “Taiwan”, fearing that it will give the island a sense of international legitimacy.
The announcement in July of the opening in Vilnius of this de facto embassy, the first in Europe for 18 years, triggered a Chinese pressure campaign aimed at isolating the autonomous democratic island on the international scene.
Beijing had recalled its ambassador to Lithuania and demanded that Vilnius recall its ambassador to China, which Lithuania did.
Beijing also halted freight trains to Lithuania and stopped issuing food export permits.
Pressure on Taiwan
In May, Lithuania announced that it was withdrawing from the 17 + 1 cooperation forum between China and Eastern European states, calling it a “source of division”.
Politicians from the Czech Republic and Slovakia have also pushed for rapprochement with Taiwan.
In 2019, Prague canceled a twinning deal with Beijing and signed one with Taipei, while a high-profile visit by Czech Senate chief Milos Vystrcil to Taiwan last year infuriated China.
Last month, a delegation of Taiwanese officials visited Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Lithuania, again angering Beijing.
China remains a major trade and diplomatic ally for many other nations in the region, as well as a valuable source of coronavirus vaccines.
International support for Taiwan has grown since Chinese President Xi Jinping came to power.
In recent months, an increasing number of unofficial diplomatic visits have taken place between Taiwanese, European and American officials.
Xi Jinping has taken a much more aggressive approach towards Taipei since the 2016 election of President Tsai Ing-wen, who sees Taiwan as an already sovereign nation and not part of “one China”.
Beijing has also poached several diplomatic allies from Taiwan in recent years, including Panama, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic.