Diplomatic crisis between China and Lithuania over Taiwan

Lithuanian government issued a statement on Sunday, as it regretted China’s decision to cut diplomatic ties with Vilnius after Taiwan set up a de facto embassy in the city.

“Lithuania reiterates its adherence to the ‘one China’ policy, but at the same time has the right to expand its cooperation with Taiwan”, including through the establishment of non-diplomatic missions, the foreign ministry wrote in a statement.

China had announced that it had reduced its diplomatic relations with Lithuania to the level of “chargé d’affaires” in protest of Taiwan’s opening of a de facto embassy in Vilnius.

In a statement, the ministry said the Chinese government had “downgraded diplomatic relations between the two countries… in order to protect its sovereignty and the basic standards of international relations”.

The Chinese foreign ministry statement added that “the Lithuanian government must bear all the consequences of that”, considering that what it did set a “bad precedent in the international arena”.

Beijing said Lithuania had “abandoned the political commitment it made when establishing diplomatic relations” with China, referring to the “one China policy”.

On Friday, China also criticized the de facto opening of a Taiwanese embassy in Lithuania, describing the measure as a “scandalous step”, stressing that any move that seeks to support Taiwan’s independence is “doomed to failure”.