The government has decided to establish a Lithuanian trade mission in Taipei
As Lithuania’s relations with Taiwan deepened, the government decided on Wednesday to establish a Lithuanian trade mission in Taipei.
The island opened a Taiwanese representation in Vilnius in the autumn, and its outraged China has downgraded diplomatic relations with Lithuania.
The government resolution on the representation in Taipei will take effect on January 1.
Deputy Minister of Economics and Innovation Jovita Neliupšienė told BNS that the competition will be announced for the position of head of the representative office in the near future.
According to her, the representative office will initially have two people – a manager who will be both a sales representative and his assistant.
“It simply came to our notice then. “We will move on with the remaining implementing acts,” said the Deputy Minister.
According to her, several options for the representation’s premises are currently being considered.
Lithuania and China have recently been in a crisis of relations due to the deepening relations between Vilnius and Taiwan.
Recently, the decision has angered China to allow a Taiwanese mission to operate in Lithuania, using the name of the island in its name. Experts say the Chinese name of the mission sounds like a Taiwanese mission. Beijing sees Taiwan’s attempts to act as the state needs.
Elsewhere in the world, Taiwanese missions are acting on behalf of the capital, Taipei, following an international consensus that such a name is not in conflict with the “one China policy”.
After the opening of a representative office in Vilnius in November, Beijing officially downgraded the diplomatic representation with Lithuania to the trustees.
After China proposed that the Lithuanian Embassy in Beijing be renamed the Office of the Commissioner for Affairs, the head of the diplomatic mission and the Chargé d’Affaires ad interim to Vilnius were recalled for consultations.