Foreign Ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou (歐江安) says the current visit by Lithuanian parliamentarians indicates the country’s solid relations with Taiwan. Lithuania’s parliamentary delegation on national security and defense arrived in Taiwan on Monday for a six-day visit.
Ou says Taiwan’s government invited the cross-party delegation, which follows four visits of Lithuanian deputy ministers in 2022. Ou says Taiwan will continue to build deeper ties with the Baltic country and work together to defend freedom, democracy, and the rule-based international order.
During their stay, the delegation will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and other senior government officials to gain a better understanding of Taiwan’s defense system. The parliamentarians will also meet with local think tanks to learn about the cross-strait situation and the hybrid security threat that Taiwan and Europe are facing.
Relations between Taiwan and Lithuania have been warming over the last few years. Taiwan opened its representative office in Lithuania using the official name “Taiwan” in 2021 when typically it names overseas representative offices using “Taipei”. Most host countries use “Taipei'' to avoid any reference implying Taiwan is a separate country from China. But this move caused Beijing to ban Lithuanian imports and expel Lithuania’s ambassador from China.