Giedrius Surplys, a deputy chairman of Lithuania’s parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, met with Qu Baihua, China’s acting chargé d’affaires in Lithuania, to discuss rising tensions between the two countries.
The representative of the opposition Farmers and Greens Union said he was assured the conflict would end if the Taiwanese representative office in Vilnius was renamed.
“I was invited to meet with the acting chargé d’affaires in Lithuania in their embassy. I informed the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the head of the State Security Department about that,” Surplys told BNS.
“I also met with the Taiwanese representatives when I visited the US. I met with the head of their representative office. My goal is to mediate, as I am sure nobody needs harsh conflicts,” he added.
According to Surplys, China’s acting chargé d’affaires told him that the key reason for tensions between Beijing and Vilnius was the name of the Taiwanese representative office in Lithuania.
“The key question I asked was whether it was really about the name because our ruling majority keeps saying that it’s not about the name,” the parliament member said. “The chargé d’affaires assured me that the name was the only problem and that China would not object to the operation of Taipei’s office in Lithuania.”
“Their position is that Lithuania could come out of this situation as a winner. If we changed those several letters and named the office as the entire world does, the whole conflict would end,” he added.
Taking advantage of disunity
Laima Liucija Andrikienė, chair of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs, said she was informed about Surplys’ plans to meet with Chinese chargé d’affaires early this week.
“I didn’t speak with Surplys after that. As far as I understand, none of the people who he wrote to got interested in what they talked about, so he needed to talk to reporters,” Andrikienė told BNS.
“My position is that we live in a democratic country where parliament members are free to act in the way they understand their mission, responsibility, and duty,” she added.
Commenting on Surplys’ actions, Lithuanian Parliament Speaker Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen said parliament members should consider possible implications before meeting with foreign representatives, as some countries are “happy to take advantage of the disunity among Lithuanian politicians on key foreign policy issues”.
“We cannot forbid the opposition to oppose Lithuania’s official position. But before taking such steps, it is certainly worth thinking about the impact they can have,” she said in a written response.
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