„This point is included in the government's program. It is not the brainchild of Inga Ruginienė, Sinkevičius, or any local government officials. It is the government's commitment to establish or restore diplomatic relations with China at the European Union (EU) level,“ the politician told Elta on Friday.
„Sometimes I hear criticism that China is a complete taboo. I understand that opponents are arguing that the government's program should not be implemented. As a politician, I find this unacceptable,“ he emphasised.
Meanwhile, according to Sinkevičius, Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys has been tasked with establishing contact with Taiwan.
„The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has been tasked with talking to Taiwan. To my knowledge, it has been stated that expectations were higher when the Taiwanese office was opened in Lithuania (...) – the public was informed about chip production and billion-dollar investments. Apparently, those expectations have not been met so far. Maybe they are on the way, maybe those expectations will still be met,“ said the LSDP leader.
„I know that the Minister of Foreign Affairs (...) is obliged to hold talks with Taiwan,“ said Sinkevičius.
On Thursday, a meeting on foreign policy issues was held at the Presidential Palace. After the meeting, the country's leader, Gitanas Nausėda, emphasised that he sees an opportunity for Lithuania to restore diplomatic relations with China at the level of temporary chargés d'affaires, if Beijing so desires.
Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said earlier that she saw no reason why the Taiwanese representative office in Vilnius could not be renamed after Taipei.
Responding to these statements, the country's leader assured that discussions on changing the name of the representative office were possible, but that we must understand that a negative response was also possible. At the time, Seimas Chairman Juozas Olekas said that there was no need to rush to change the name of the Taiwanese representative office. According to him, such a move would probably not yield any real results. Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys told ELTA that certain fundamental principles must be protected.
Earlier, Beijing stated that the door to communication between China and Lithuania remains open, but Vilnius must correct the mistake without delay.
The Taiwanese representative office indicated that, despite the political changes, it intends to continue close cooperation with Lithuania.
ELTA recalls that relations between Vilnius and Beijing became significantly strained after the opening of the Taiwanese representative office in Lithuania at the end of 2021. China imposed severe sanctions on both diplomatic and economic fronts. In addition, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially changed the level of diplomatic relations with Lithuania from ambassador to chargé d'affaires. Beijing considers Taiwan to be a province of China and does not allow Taiwan to establish representative offices in countries with which China maintains official relations.
Tensions in bilateral relations had been simmering for some time, even before Lithuania withdrew from the „17+1“ cooperation format with China. The then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gabrielius Landsbergis, called on other EU countries to follow Lithuania's example. However, only neighbouring Estonia and Latvia followed Vilnius' example.
Gintautas Paluckas' government program identified China as a challenge to Lithuania's foreign and security policy, but such wording is no longer found in the I's commitments—Ruginienė's cabinet. Instead, the government program states that it will seek to restore diplomatic relations with Beijing.
Nausėda has previously stated that he sees no problem with the government's desire to restore closer relations with China. However, as the country's leader emphasised, both countries must be willing to take this step.