Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has asked that the Foreign Ministry present a plan how to de-escalate tensions between Vilnius and China over ties with Taiwan.
Nausėda's spokesman Ridas Jasiulionis has also rejected claims that the president's position on the opening of the Taiwanese representative office in Vilnius was inconsistent.
Earlier this week, President Nausėda criticised the government's decision to open the de-facto embassy under the name of Taiwan rather than Taipei and said the step had not been coordinated with him.
“It wasn't the opening the Taiwanese representation that was a mistake. The mistake was opening the representation under this name without coordinating it with the Lithuanian president and then putting him before the fact,” Jasiulionis said in a statement quoted by BNS on Wednesday night.
“The president invites the foreign minister to present a concrete action plan to de-escalate the situation,” he continued.
China has been pressuring Lithuania over its ties with Taiwan and slammed unofficial trade sanctions. Beijing demands a change to the representative office's name, saying that calling it “Taiwanese” suggests that the self-ruled island is independent and violates the One China principle.
On Tuesday, President Nausėda said it was a mistake to name the office thus and that he had not been informed about it. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis insisted that Nausėda had been aware of the government's plans for the representation, which were in line with Nausėda's own publicly expressed positions.
Jasiulionis rejected suggestions that the president was inconsistent.
“Lithuania is a sovereign state that has the right to maintain economic and cultural ties with other countries or territories,” the spokesman said in Wednesday's statement. “Taipei's (Taiwanese) office is not a diplomatic representation and does not violate the One China principle.”
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