President Tsai Ing-wen says Taiwan’s representative office in Lithuania is a major diplomatic breakthrough.
In her Facebook post on Tuesday, Tsai said the central European country is also planning to set up an office in Taiwan in the autumn.
Lithuania donated 20,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan last month. Besides disease prevention, Tsai said she believes that the two sides can work together in the areas of trade, industry, science and technology in the future.
Meanwhile, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement that Washington “applauds the agreement to establish a Taiwan Office in Lithuania. All countries should be free to pursue closer ties and greater cooperation with Taiwan, a leading democracy, a major economy, and a force for good in the world.”
Also on Tuesday, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said Taiwan’s setting up an office in Lithuania is “not going to change the fact that Taiwan is part of China.”