Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said restoring diplomatic relations with China would require goodwill from both sides, while warning that Lithuania sees significant risks in closer cooperation with Beijing’s government.
Speaking in an interview with the radio Žinių Radijas aired Tuesday, Nausėda said Lithuania does not welcome the near-collapse of diplomatic ties with China, even after withstanding what he described as aggressive economic pressure from Beijing following Vilnius’ decision to deepen ties with Taiwan.
“Lithuania does not take pleasure in the fact that diplomatic relations are practically nonexistent,” Nausėda said. “They have been downgraded to a very low level, but for those relations to be restored, there has to be willingness from both states.”
Nausėda compared China’s political system to the authoritarian leadership in neighbouring Belarus, saying Beijing is helping enable Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“Lithuania sees all the risks associated with overly close engagement with the Chinese regime,” he said, adding that Chinese authorities are supplying Russia with dual-use technologies, supporting sanctions circumvention and otherwise backing Moscow.
The president also said Europe’s dependence on China has caused repeated problems and urged the European Union to adopt a clearer, more unified approach toward Beijing.
“Europe should once and for all clearly and precisely define how it views China,” Nausėda said. “It is not possible to assess it in a way that for some time was very popular – seeing China simultaneously as an economic partner, a competitor and a strategic adversary. When those three roles appear, it is easy to get lost among them.”
Relations between Lithuania and China deteriorated sharply in 2021 after Vilnius allowed Taiwan to open a representative office using the name “Taiwanese” rather than “Taipei”, a move that angered Beijing.
Lithuania and China have yet to restore full diplomatic representation in each other’s capitals. Since mid-May 2025, there have been no accredited Chinese diplomats or staff members in Lithuania.
In June, then-Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas said Lithuania had submitted a proposal to restore relations, but Beijing had not responded.
Following a change of government, the program of Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė’s cabinet includes a commitment to restore diplomatic relations with China to the level of representation maintained by other European Union member states.
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