Deputy Foreign Minister Tseng Ho-jen says that Taiwan is working to help Lithuania withstand economic pressure from China. That’s amid news that Taiwan is preparing to invest US$200 million in Lithuania’s high-tech sector.
China has used economic means such as refusing to allow in Lithuanian products to put pressure on Lithuania as the Baltic country’s relations with Beijing sour.
Lithuania-China relations have deteriorated since Lithuania agreed to let Taiwan open a representative office in its capital. Beijing is angry that Lithuania has allowed the office to operate under the official name “The Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania”. Beijing insists that Taiwanese representative offices abroad should not explicitly mention Taiwan in their names, since Beijing sees itself as the only legitimate representative of Taiwan around the world.
During a virtual press-conference on Wednesday, Deputy Foreign Minister Tseng Ho-jen called Lithuania a reliable and firm ally that shares Taiwan’s values of freedom and democracy. He expressed admiration for Lithuania’s path from Soviet occupation to democracy.
Tseng called for solidarity among democracies against the expansion of authoritarianism. He also criticized what he called China’s weaponizing of trade and breaking of the rules of international commerce in order to shatter solidarity between democracies.
Tseng also criticized what he called China’s selective bullying of smaller and weaker countries. He said that China has never retaliated against the United States or large EU countries for using the term “Taiwan” in official documents.