Lithuania will open its representative office in Taiwan “as soon as we are ready”, Deputy Economy Minister Karolis Žemaitis, who is currently visiting the island, said on Monday.
The previous plan was to open the office on Monday.
Read more: Lithuania to open Taipei trade office this week – media
Vilnius’ representative to Taiwan, Paulius Lukauskas, “arrived last week and is only a few days out of quarantine, so he is now getting ready for the opening of the office”, Žemaitis told BNS.
“We will open it as soon as we are ready,” he added.
The vice-minister could not say if the office would be opened by the end of his visit on Friday.
“The key thing here is that the representative is already physically here and working,” Žemaitis said. “As to whether or not we can do it during this visit, we are not focusing on that.”
“The main goal is to help our business delegation. The opening is, of course, an important symbolic step, but it is equally important for us that this business visit is a success,” he added.
The vice-minister and a delegation of 17 Lithuanian businesses started their visit to Taiwan on Monday.
Vilnius’ representative office is expected to open in September. It will be named Lithuania’s Representative Office in Taipei, rather than Taiwan, which is in line with international practice to avoid any hint of state-level relations with the island that China regards as part of its territory.
Lithuanian officials also stress it will be a trade office, not a diplomatic one.
Lithuania last year allowed Taipei to open its representative office in Vilnius with the word “Taiwanese”, rather than “Taipei”, in its name.
In response, Beijing downgraded diplomatic ties with Vilnius and blocked Lithuanian exports.
‘Basically’ open
Meanwhile, a senior Taiwanese diplomate has told Reuters that Lithuania’s office has already effectively begun operations in Taipei.
Remus Chen, head of Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry’s Department of European Affairs, told reporters that the new Lithuanian representative Paulius Lukauskas had arrived in Taipei earlier this month, and on Monday had formally applied for his accreditation.
The new Lithuanian office was therefore “basically” now in operation, but office equipment is still being installed, Chen added.
At the same time, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė told journalists on Tuesday that she could not say whether the official opening of the Lithuanian mission in Taiwan had taken place or not.
“To my knowledge, the head of the mission is in Taipei, but whether there were any official procedures, any ribbon-cutting ceremonies or anything, I cannot say. That is a matter for the Ministry of Economy,” Šimonytė said before the parliament session.
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