The foreign ministry of Lithuania says that Lithuania continues to welcome the recent establishment of a Taiwanese representative office in the country. That comes after Lithuania’s president said he thinks it was a mistake to allow the office to go by the name “The Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania”.
The choice of name has angered China, which considers itself the only legitimate representative of Taiwan overseas and insists that Taiwanese representative offices must go by euphemistic names that mask their connection with Taiwan.
China has retaliated against Lithuania for allowing the Taiwanese office to operate under its official name. Beijing has not only downgraded diplomatic ties with the country, but also used economic measures such as blocking shipments of Lithuanian products in order to put pressure on the Baltic country.
On Wednesday, however, a spokesperson for the Lithuanian foreign minister told Taiwan’s Central News Agency that Lithuania’s welcome to the Taiwanese office still stands. The spokesperson said that Lithuania looks forward to developing business, scientific, technological, and cultural ties with Taiwan.
The spokesperson also said that Taiwan and Lithuania share the same values, and that the promotion of human rights and democracy are important goals of Lithuania’s governing coalition. The spokesperson said that the Lithuanian government hopes to see more interaction between the peoples of Lithuania and Taiwan.