Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has called on the country's ministers to “fix” the name of Taiwan's de facto embassy, which has been at the centre of a row between Vilnius and Beijing.
The island nation opened a Taiwanese Representative Office in Vilnius last November. Observers have noted that its name in Mandarin uses the word “Taiwan” rather than “Taiwanese”.
Read more: Lithuania has not asked Taiwan to rename office, says Taipei
“The name of the Taiwanese office does not sound the same in the Lithuanian, English and Chinese languages. So let's at least fix those things that are clearly visible,” Nausėda said in an interview with LRT RADIO.
“I think it's absolutely natural. Irrespective of which institution we have in mind, [...] if its names in different languages differ, it raises completely unnecessary questions and unnecessary tensions. So at least in this case, I think we can agree very clearly,” he said.
Lithuanian-Chinese relations soured after a Taiwanese representative office was opened in Vilnius under the island's name. Experts say the name in Chinese sounds like it is Taiwan's representative office, and Beijing views that as island's attempt to act as an independent country. In other countries, similar offices operated under the name of Taipei.
Nausėda noted that the Taiwanese representative office's name in Mandarin “was a key factor” in the conflict with China, adding that when the government made the decisions, they were not coordinated and the government failed to properly assess China's possible retaliation.
“Naturally, we need to take steps to prevent that [China's pressure on Lithuania] at the EU level, but it is now creating certain tangible losses for parts of Lithuanian businesses and we cannot tolerate that,” the president said.
Citing several anonymous sources, Reuters reported on Tuesday that Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis allegedly proposed to President Nausėda to modify the Chinese version of the Taiwanese representation name to refer to “Taiwanese people” rather than to Taiwan.
Landsbergis has denied the report.
“No, there are no such intentions, there are no plans on the official name, I have said that numerous times,” he told Lithuanian reporters on Wednesday.
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