Dispute over Taiwan: China is putting pressure on Lithuania

Lithuania is forging closer ties with Taiwan – and China is uncomfortable with that. Both states have already called their ambassadors back, and now freight trains, which usually run from China to Lithuania, have apparently been stopped.

China’s state newspaper “Global Times” has been running a smear campaign against Lithuania for a few weeks: China’s leadership should cooperate with Russia and punish the Baltic country, the propaganda newspaper demands in an editorial. And: Lithuania will pay a price for its rapprochement with Taiwan.

In the meantime, the anti-Lithuanian rhetoric has evidently turned into concrete action. According to reports from the usually well-informed Hong Kong daily “South China Morning Post”, China’s state railways have stopped certain freight trains that usually go directly to Lithuania from the People’s Republic.

There is no official confirmation of this, but Chinese state media threatened that such an economic penalty could soon arise.

Ambassador already withdrawn

In protest against open criticism from Vilnius, China withdrew its ambassador from Lithuania two weeks ago. At the same time, the Lithuanian ambassador to China was expelled from the country.

The communist leadership is particularly angry that Lithuania’s right-wing liberal government repeatedly addresses human rights violations in China and that it has established political contacts with Taiwan. Earlier this month, the Lithuanian government announced that it would open a commercial agency in Taiwan after Taiwan had already set up such an office in Vilnius.

In addition, Lithuania withdrew from the 17 + 1 round, a format for cooperation between China and Eastern and Central European countries.

Claim to Taiwan

China’s leadership regards Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic, even though the island never was. States that deal with Taiwan at a high political level will be punished by China’s leadership.

At the weekend, Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis spoke to his US colleague Antony Blinken about the subject. They condemned the “aggressive behavior” of the Chinese leadership as completely unacceptable. The European Union and the German government have so far largely held back in the conflict.