According to Xinhua News Agency, Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said during a regular press conference on the 22nd that the difficulties and crux of the neutral relations between China and Lithuania lie in the fact that the Lithuanian side has violated the one-China principle and abandoned the political commitments made in the communiqué establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries. The Chinese side remains open to communication with the Lithuanian side. It is hoped that the Lithuanian side will take action as soon as possible, correct its mistakes, and return to the right track of adhering to the one-China principle, thereby creating conditions for the normalization of neutral relations.
Previously, according to reports by the Baltic News Agency (BNS) on June 17, Remigijus Motuzas, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Lithuanian Parliament, revealed to the media that Lithuania has agreed to allow Chinese officials to establish temporary offices in the country. "This might be a sort of concession to China."
According to a report by Lithuanian National Broadcasting Television (LRT) on June 18th, Lithuanian Prime Minister Rujinisene revealed that Lithuania is currently negotiating with China regarding the restoration of diplomatic relations. However, no concrete measures have been taken yet.
Russian Foreign Minister Medvedev emphasized that any contact with China must remain low-key, to avoid public discussions that could affect the progress of negotiations.
The Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee from the opposition party, Gimanatas Pavelionis, was negative in his stance. He not only criticized the decision to allow China to establish an office without proper discussion, but also claimed that this move would lower Lithuania’s status as a nation. He also speculated that China might use this as leverage to lay out more conditions.
Since Lithuania allowed the establishment of a “Taiwan representative office” at the end of 2021, relations between Lithuania and Taiwan have deteriorated significantly. Reports indicate that since May last year, there are no more Chinese diplomats in Lithuania.
A survey conducted in March this year showed that most Lithuanians supported changing the name of the so-called "Taiwan Representative Office" to "Taipei Representative Office" in order to improve relations with China. The results indicated that 58% of adult respondents were in favor of the change. Of these, 22% strongly supported the change, and 36% were somewhat in favor. Only about a quarter of respondents expressed opposition, and nearly one-fifth had no opinion at all.
