China has said it remains open to dialogue with Lithuania after Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė described the 2021 decision to open a Taiwanese Representative Office in Vilnius as “a mistake,” Reuters reports.
“The door to communication between China and Lithuania remains open,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a press conference on Friday.
“We hope Lithuania will translate its willingness to improve bilateral relations into concrete actions and correct its mistake as soon as possible,” he added.
Earlier this week, Ruginienė told BNS that Lithuania had “jumped in front of a train and lost” by opening the Taiwanese Representative Office under that name without coordinating its actions with the EU and the United States.
She noted that other European countries also host Taiwanese offices, but that these were opened “through normal coordination” and under the name “Taipei Representative Office”.
“In those cases, relations with China have remained businesslike [...] But it was probably Lithuania’s major mistake to think that if we took the initiative and acted first, the world would suddenly appreciate it. Well, we tried – we have the Taiwanese office – but the world did not appreciate it, no one did,” she said.
In her view, the best approach in relations with China is a unified European position.
Vilnius and Beijing have been at odds for several years over how to restore diplomatic representation following the dispute over the office’s name.
Since mid-May last year, there have been no accredited Chinese diplomats or other staff in Lithuania.
After a change of government, Ruginienė’s cabinet included in its programme the aim of restoring diplomatic relations with China to the same level as in other EU member states.
“Turning back the clock is a very complicated process. If we manage to align certain elements at a technical level, gradually, as set out in our programme, we do see a real possibility of normalising relations. That does not mean we will suddenly embrace each other,” she said.
According to the prime minister, Lithuania is currently taking “small first steps” in talks with China, including written exchanges. However, she stressed that any effort to normalise relations with Beijing must be coordinated with the EU and the United States.
“We must see ourselves in the context of a larger entity and make decisions together that benefit Lithuania specifically [...] After damaging relations so severely and cutting them off entirely, restoring them is a very complex and lengthy process,” she said.
“It involves rebalancing our relationships and coordinating with our strategic partners, the United States and the European Union. Rebuilding what has been destroyed is very difficult, but we are gradually moving towards not being enemies, but at least having more normal, technical and working relations,” Ruginienė added.
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