A group of EU parliamentarians has signed a joint letter calling for the EU to take action to counter Chinese pressure on Lithuania.
China has reacted angrily to a recent warming of ties between Lithuania and Taiwan, and especially plans to exchange representative offices.
China is particularly angered that the recently-opened Taiwanese office in Lithuania is called “The Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania”. Normally, countries that host Taiwanese representative offices insist that they do not refer to Taiwan explicitly in their names out of deference to Beijing’s claim that it is the only legitimate representative of Taiwan abroad.
China has since imposed an import ban on Lithuanian products and products made with Lithuanian materials.
On Monday, 41 members of the European Parliament signed a letter to the European Council and the President of the European Commission calling for a response to this Chinese pressure.
The letter says that all EU member countries have the right to pursue relations with Taiwan. It calls for solidarity within the EU for Lithuania. It also condemns China’s economic retaliation against Lithuania as a violation of WTO rules, the order of international trade, and the principle of a single EU market.
The letter points to past incidences of Chinese pressure against European officials that crossed its lines on the Taiwan issue. It says that the freedom of member states to develop ties with Taiwan based on national interests and shared values of democracy and human rights should not be curbed by coercion from other countries. In addition, the letter says that the exchange of representative offices between Lithuania and Taiwan is not a challenge to the “one China policy”.
The letter says a response to China is needed to prevent Beijing from becoming bolder, putting pressure on EU members, fracturing European unity, and weakening EU influence in the world.