Foreign Minister Joseph Wu says he believes Lithuania-Taiwan ties will flourish despite diplomatic pressure from China. Wu’s comments in the legislature on Monday come a day after China formally downgraded its diplomatic relations with Lithuania.
On Sunday, China lowered bilateral ties from the level of ambassador to “charge d’affaires”. That announcement came after Taiwan formally opened the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania last week.
The representative office is Taiwan’s first new de facto embassy in a European country since 2003. It is also the first representative office in Europe to use the word “Taiwanese” in its name, instead of “Taipei”.
Joseph Wu says the European Union and the United States have both given Lithuania their support. Likewise, Lithuania’s foreign minister, high-level officials and prominent lawmakers have all backed the plan to strengthen ties with Taiwan. That’s why Wu says he believes Lithuania-Taiwan ties “can only get better”.
Wu says he expects Lithuania to open its representative office in Taiwan in early 2022.