A group of Lithuanian public figures, including members of the government, have founded a Lithuania-Taiwan Forum, an initiative to deepen ties with the island nation that Beijing considers to be part of China.
Former education minister Gintaras Steponavičius was elected the forum's president during the council meeting on Tuesday.
According to Mantas Martišius, a council member and lecturer from Vytautas Magnus University, the election marks the beginning of the Lithuania-Taiwan Forum.
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The association's council also includes Vice Foreign Minister Mantas Adomėnas, MEP Aušra Maldeikienė, Varėna Mayor Algis Kašėta, as well as lecturers from Vilnius University and Vytautas Magnus University.
Economy Minister Aušrinė Armonaitė is also among over 50 forum founders, her spokeswoman Skaistė Barauskienė told BNS.
“The Lithuania-Taiwan Forum has pooled leaders from different areas who want to see value-based decisions in international politics and understand the challenges Taiwan is facing. The forum will contribute to the development of ties with Taiwan in different areas,” Steponavičius told BNS.
“The people of Lithuania feel and know very well what it is like to live in the face of threat, therefore, the wish to contribute to Taiwan's full involvement in the international community is only natural,” he said.
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Government members' involvement in the forum might anger Beijing which considers Taiwan part of China and has vowed to incorporate the island by force.
Lithuania has no diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but the Lithuanian government has recently voiced plans to open a business representation in Taiwan to expand its economic diplomacy in the Asian region.
A spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry said earlier this month that Beijing “staunchly opposes any of the countries it has diplomatic ties with – including Lithuania – setting up official institutions in Taiwan and vice versa, and carrying out any form of official visit”.
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