„I will therefore ask all members of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs today to convene an extraordinary committee meeting to discuss what I consider to be the minister’s criminal actions,“ Pavilionis wrote on Facebook on Monday.
The Conservative accused Budrys of misleading the Seimas and Taiwan by allegedly concealing information about the intention to change the name of the representative office and by linking the expansion of economic cooperation to this decision.
„Budrys has deceived us all, and Taiwan as well, by telling everyone for two years that he would do everything in his power to increase mutual investment between the two countries. It turns out that, to this day, he has in fact been blocking them, directly linking the entire search for investment, the avoidance of double taxation, even basic mutual visits – any activity that would encourage investment – to the name change,“ said the MP.
According to Pavilionis, the minister allegedly took a unilateral decision back in September to change the name of the representative office without informing members of the Seimas. In the politician’s view, such actions could harm Lithuania’s relations with the United States of America (USA) and the country’s national security interests.
Meanwhile, Karolis Neimantas, a member of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs and a member of the Nemuno Aušra party, told ELTA that he supported the possible renaming of the Taiwanese representative office. According to him, such a decision would align with the practice followed in other European Union (EU) member states.
„I view this matter positively. I would support this decision, not so much because of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ calls – as we, unlike the Foreign Affairs Committee, have not received such official information. Still, I would view it positively if the representative office's name were changed to Taipei. This would be in line with the general trend and similar regulations across the EU,“ said Neimantas.
The MP said he had not had any official information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about calls to Taiwan. Still, unofficial reports of a possible renaming of the representative office had reached him earlier. According to him, such a move could be one condition for normalising Lithuania’s relations with China.
Mr Neimantas also criticised the results of economic cooperation between Lithuania and Taiwan, saying the expected growth in investment and trade had not materialised since the opening of the Taiwanese representative office in 2021.
„Just look at trade relations between Taiwan and Lithuania over the last five years, and you will see that these trade relations are practically non-existent. Lithuania sometimes imports more from Taiwan than Taiwan imports from Lithuania,“ he said.
Commenting on Pavilionis initiative to hold an extraordinary meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Neimantas said he saw no obstacles and believed K. Budrys could explain his actions to MPs.
„I see nothing wrong with this, and I believe the minister will explain everything coherently and in detail, as far as necessary, setting out Lithuania’s trade interests in that context, whilst also taking the China factor into account,“ he said.
Remigijus Motuzas, Chair of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs, did not comment on the information that emerged on Monday. Speaking to ELTA, the politician stated that he first needed to verify the published data.
In early September, Mr Motuzas publicly asserted that Lithuania was not considering changing the name of the Taiwanese representative office.
ELTA notes that, according to the Delfi news portal, on 24 September representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented Constance H. Wang, head of the Taiwanese Representative Office, with an informal document setting out requirements, in which they urged Taiwan to change the name of its representative office in Vilnius by 1 October.
It is reported that, in exchange for the name change, the Taiwanese side was offered the opportunity to sign an agreement on investment prospects and begin negotiations on avoiding double taxation.
After the Taiwanese representative office opened in Lithuania at the end of 2021, relations between Vilnius and Beijing deteriorated significantly. China imposed diplomatic and economic restrictions on Lithuania. The current government’s programme envisages seeking to normalise diplomatic relations with China.