Commenting on a recent meeting between Giedrius Surplys, deputy chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Qu Baihua, China's acting chargé d'affaires in Lithuania, Cmilyte-Nielsen said that an MP is free to choose whom to meet with and "it reflects his or her values and understanding of the situation in the country".
"We cannot forbid the opposition to oppose Lithuania's official position," the speaker said in a comment forwarded to BNS by Ilona Petrove, her spokeswoman. "But before taking such steps, it is certainly worth thinking about the impact they can have."
"I have said on more than one occasion that there is more than one state that is happy to take advantage of such disunity among Lithuanian politicians on key foreign policy issues, which is detrimental to Lithuania's interests," she added.
Surplys, a member of the opposition Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, met with Qu Baihua earlier this week to discuss rising tensions between the two countries.
The MP says he received assurances from the Chinese diplomat that the conflict will end if Taiwan renames its representative office in Vilnius.
Relations between Lithuania and China turned sour after Vilnius allowed Taiwan to call its representative office "Taiwanese" rather than "Taipei's". This angered Beijing which considers the island part of its territory.