Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas has said that it is a “big mistake” to present Lithuania’s ties with Taiwan as economically beneficial, arguing that the relationship is more about values and national security.
“I think it was a big mistake to try to portray our relations with Taiwan as economically rational,” Paluckas told reporters. “All countries in Southeast Asia have strong exports and little in the way of imports.”
“It was a bit naïve to hope that we could boost sales in Taiwan and improve our trade balance,” the premier added. “This is more about values and national security than it is about economics.”
The prime minister’s comments came in the wake of a visit to Lithuania on Monday by former Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who urged patience in seeking benefits from bilateral relations.
Earlier Paluckas and Seimas Speaker Saulius Skvernelis both said that expectations related to co-operation between Lithuania and Taiwan never materialised.
Former Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, for her part, declared on Monday that expectations must be realistic. Close relations with Taiwan, she said, open the way for Lithuania to forge closer ties with the entire Indo-Pacific region.
Lithuania began to tighten its ties with Taiwan after the East Asian island opened a representatives office in Vilnius in 2021. Some officials hoped that this would help in delivering Taiwanese chip technology to Lithuania.
The move, however, soured relations between Lithuania and the People’s Republic of China, which sees the representative office as an attempt by Taiwan to act as if it were an independent state.
The office in Vilnius is called “Taiwanese” in Lithuanian and English, while in Chinese it is “Taiwan.” In other countries, offices of this type usually operate under the name “Taipei.”
Prime Minister Paluckas insisted on Tuesday that Lithuania is open toward normalising relations with China, but not unconditionally.
“I have said repeatedly that Lithuania will not sacrifice its national interests, and it will never apologise for any symbolic gestures,” he says. “If they sent their ambassador as their top diplomatic representative, however, we will send our ambassador to Beijing.”
The PM added that there are currently no high-level political discussions about the appointment of ambassadors.
Asked about the possibility of restoring ties with China, former president Grybauskaite pointed to the guest list at last week’s Victory Day celebrations in Moscow.
More than 20 senior foreign officials were present, including Chinese President XI Jinping, who was sitting right next to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the dais.
Paluckas, for his part, said that Xi’s visit to Moscow will not change his own views about relations with China.
“Major powers have various interests, but all European Union countries typically maintain diplomatic relations because of their influence and weight in international formats and across a range of issues,” he argues.
Source: BNS
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