Having been urged to draft a “de-escalation” plan for Vilnius-Beijing tensions, Lithuania's foreign minister says he intends to appeal to the World Trade Organization over China's undeclared sanctions.
Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said ge presented the plan to President Gitanas Nausėda on Wednesday.
Read more: Lithuanian president calls for ‘de-escalation plan’ with China
“[The plan is] to inform Beijing that we are gathering evidence and submitting it to European authorities on violations of trade agreements,” the minister told reporters. “That evidence will most likely be submitted to the World Trade Organization, which may later lead to a case.”
President Nausėda, who has previously criticised the Foreign Ministry's handling of China relations, has asked Landsbergis to present a plan for how to “de-escalate” a row with Beijing over the opening of a Taiwanese Representational Office in Vilnius.
China has hit at Lithuanian exporters and been pressuring European internationals to drop Lithuanian suppliers.
“We are informing [Beijing] that Europe is not sitting back and doing nothing. It is monitoring the situation and actively looking at how to resolve the situation through legal means, among other things,” he said.
Landsbergis said he could give no specific dates as to when the plan would start producing results.
“Lithuania is doing its part, but the real de-escalation depends primarily on China,” he said. “We can't yet give any dates when China might make a step one way or another.”
Relations between Lithuania and China turned sour after Vilnius allowed Taiwan to open a representation office under the name “Taiwanese” rather than “Taipei”. Beijing's representatives have repeatedly demanded that Lithuania change the name.
However, Landsbergis said the government will not change its position on the issue.
“No, backing down isn't in the government's plans,” the minister said.
“The Bank of Lithuania also presented this as a problem of limited scope that, in fact, can bring considerable benefits for Lithuania – if we work actively, which we are doing, [...] – by opening up new markets, bringing in new partners and strengthening old partnerships, including with the United States whose strategic support is extremely important,” he said.
Some of the business representatives who participated in Wednesday's meeting with the president say that Lithuanian companies' problems with the Chinese market started “well before” the decision was made to open the Taiwanese office, according to Landsbergis.
Last autumn, China halted freight trains to Lithuania, stopped issuing food export permits, cut credit limits and raised prices for Lithuanian companies, and removed Lithuania from its customs systems, meaning that Lithuanian goods could not clear customs.
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