Lithuania’s former president, Valdas Adamkus, has criticised the country's decision to open a Taiwanese representative office in Vilnius, saying that the conflict with China has led to huge losses.
"I believe the losses are huge, and that was completely unnecessary. It should have been well-discussed and coordinated with the Seimas, the government and the president, and it should have been done only upon reaching agreement on this support or non-support, recognition or non-recognition of Taiwan," Adamkus said in his interview with LRT published on Friday.
"That recognition should have firstly been done by the world, the major countries that have influence and their decision should provide results, not a small Lithuania,” he added.
"With all due respect for that small Lithuania, [...] it’s not up to us to set examples on how the world should behave, and our foreign policy cannot include such things, and I do hope it won’t happen again," the former president said.
Lithuania’s relations with China deteriorated after a “Taiwanese” office was established in Vilnius. Beijing says this has violated the One China principle, an allegation that Lithuania denies.
Read more: US, UK, Germany, France express solidarity with Lithuania amid Chinese pressure
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