The United States is determined to stand with Lithuania against China after Beijing pulled its envoy in retaliation for the Baltic nation’s decision to develop closer ties with Taiwan, according to U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.
Sherman made the commitment in a phone conversation with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis on Aug. 13. Beijing’s diplomatic outburst came after Lithuania agreed to allow Taiwan to open an office in the Baltic nation under the name of “Taiwan.”
The regime in Beijing sees Taiwan as a part of its territory and exerts diplomatic pressure on nations and international organizations to keep them from establishing official ties with the self-ruled island. Because of Beijing’s pressure, countries without formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan often establish trade offices, which act as de facto embassies for the island nation.
Currently, Taiwan handles its bilateral affairs with Lithuania through its diplomatic outpost in neighboring Latvia’s capital, Riga. The outpost is called the Taipei Mission in the Republic of Latvia.
Taiwan’s only diplomatic ally in Europe is the Vatican. It doesn’t have formal ties with Lithuania, Latvia, or the United States.
Since then, China’s state-run media have harshly criticized Lithuania. On Aug. 11, China’s state-run Xinhua published a commentary saying that the Baltic nation was “playing with fire” over its decision on Taiwan.
The article said that Lithuanian policymakers “will ultimately pay for their recklessness” and that Beijing “will not hesitate to take strong countermeasures.”
China’s hawkish state-run media Global Times, in an editorial published on Aug. 11, said, “China should join hands with Russia and Belarus, the two countries that border Lithuania, and punish it” and that the Baltic state “needs to be taught a lesson.”
It also warned other European nations not to “think about using the Taiwan question as leverage against China,” since issues regarding the self-ruled island represent “a watershed between peace and war.”
Dovile Sakaliene, a member of the Lithuanian Parliament, took exception to the Global Times editorial, saying the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was using the article to “openly threaten” her country.
Taiwan will “continue to defend democracy, the rule of law, and protect human rights,” as well as strengthen its “cooperation with the United States,” the ministry stated.