"The Chinese side downgraded diplomatic relations. If the Chinese side makes up its mind to reverse the decision, I do not think it would be a problem for Lithuania to reconsider the matter. It was never Lithuania’s initiative to downgrade the diplomatic representation and to close the embassy. The ball was and continues to be on China’s court. There is little Lithuania can do on her behalf," Šimonytė, a member of the Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD), told reporters Tuesday.
Ties between Lithuania and China turned sour when the Taiwanese Representative Office was opened in Vilnius at the end of 2021.
Beijing then started pressuring Lithuania diplomatically and economically, and downgraded the level of representation from ambassadorial to chargé d’affaires.
MP Remigijus Žemaitaitis, leader of the Nemunas Dawn party, now calls to restore the relationships and claims that establishing ties with Taiwan "has not paid off".
However, Šimonytė stresses that China has never been a significant export partner for Lithuania. Moreover, she notes that China is helping Russia with trade and evasion of sanctions, which enables Moscow to continue the war against Ukraine. Thus, she says, Europe must take this into account when navigating in the current situation.
Parliament Speaker Saulius Skvernelis and Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas claim that Lithuania stands out of other EU countries in terms of its stance on China.
President’s national security adviser Marius Česnulevičius has said that the presidency is also in favour of restoring ties with China and discussions are ongoing on normalising relations.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Kęstutis Budrys has mentioned that Lithuania would like to normalise relations with Beijing and ambassadors to be reinstated.