Lithuania’s President, Gitanas Nauseda, said that it was a ‘mistake’ to allow Taiwan to open an office for the representatives in Vilnius under their own name, according to reports.
According to Nauseda, the name of the facility was not coordinated with him.
“I think it was not the opening of the Taiwanese office that was a mistake. It was its name, which was not coordinated with me,” Nauseda told the Lithuanian radio station Ziniu Radijas.
The Taiwanese representatives’ office was created to serve as a de-facto embassy for Taiwan to Lithuania and give Taiwan more legitimacy as a state independent of China and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
After the office opened the Chinese government, controlled by the CCP, began retaliating against Lithuania, which is consistent with the way the CCP has treated other countries who recognize Taiwan as an independent state.
According to Nauseda, it is the name of the office that has prompted retaliation from the CCP.
“The name of the office has become the key factor that now strongly affects our relations with China,” he said.
China has recently downgraded diplomatic ties with Lithuania, presumably in retaliation for the Taiwan office.
Retaliation measures against Lithuania have included an embargo on Lithuanian exports into China and the recalling of the Chinese ambassador to Lithuania.
These measures, specifically the ones that relate to trade, have been called “unannounced sanctions” by Lithuania, which is supposed to mean that sanctions have been imposed against Lithuania in an unofficial and quiet way.
Lithuania is also calling for European support and solidarity as the country’s trade and diplomatic relations are now under attack.
“Unconventional measures against Lithuania have begun to take place. For this reason, we must be extremely active and send a very clear signal to the European Union that this is an attack… on one of the EU member states,” Nauseda said.
The CCP has long been on a mission to suppress Taiwan and prevent its independence. Western military planners have long anticipated the Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which is something that the United States is supposed to prevent and react to if it does happen.
In addition to possible military action against Taiwan for not joining mainland China and the CCP, the Communist Party has also enacted a host of diplomatic terrorism campaigns against countries that recognize Taiwan in any official capacity.
Some of the CCP’s methods for keeping other countries from recognizing Taiwan as an independent state is China’s refusal to officially recognize those countries to the United Nations, trade embargos, sanctions, and other means.
Taiwan has not officially been a part of China and has long fought to stay separate from China, despite the Chinese narrative that the country is essentially a separatist republic.
If major players like any EU Member State stop recognizing Taiwan’s sovereignty because of Chinese pressure, the country of Taiwan could eventually be quietly absorbed by China without international protest.