After China’s statements, it becomes clear how Lithuania will respond: the situation may get even worse
At that time, the head of the International Transport and Logistics Alliance says that it is still difficult to assess the impact of China’s actions because there is no detailed and official information, and the president of the Association of Lithuanian Sea Freight Companies says that he does not think that shipping cargo from China to Lithuania could suddenly stop.
“China is a participant in a large global market, any exceptional restrictions, because if we were talking about the termination of relations with China by the entire European Union or the Western world, it would be the same competitive conditions, now it turns out that Lithuanian aviation companies find themselves in a particularly unfavorable situation, we have to it is more difficult to compete with our neighboring partners in that specialized market,” Joris Gintilas, chairman of the board of the National Aviation Association, told BNS on Friday.
According to him, this may negatively affect Lithuanian companies that participate in joint projects with other Western companies.
“Many partners who themselves will cooperate with China and have relations with us, this can act as a negative factor in the common logistics chain. If our companies participate with partners from the European Union or other countries, then being in a consortium of companies can harm the success of the joint project, as a result of which foreign partners may try to avoid Lithuania”, said J. Gintilas.
According to him, the aviation sector has reached rock bottom in its relations with China, but the situation may worsen further.
“I am not saying that this deterioration is critical specifically for our aviation companies, but in the general context, it is bad news and a bad sign for Lithuania, as participants in the connected global economy and participants in the transport sector,” said the chairman of the aviation board.
At that time, the General Secretary of the International Transport and Logistics Alliance, Povilas Drižas, said that there is no direct transportation of cars between Lithuania and China by land, so “a direct impact is not expected here”, but disruptions may occur in the longer logistics chain.
“To blame for all the logistics between Europe and China and Europe – the impact is possible, the transport of our companies is involved in one way or another at some stage, in Central Asia or Kazakhstan. Therefore, possible disruptions can be expected in this part,” he asserted.
Vaidotas Šileika, the president of the Association of Lithuanian Sea Freight Companies, says that he does not think that shipping cargo from China to Lithuania could suddenly stop.
“There are those cargoes (from China to Lithuania – BNS), but maybe other shipping companies could also carry those cargoes. (…) Cosco (a Chinese shipping company operating in Europe – BNS) is not the only one or any other Chinese company working with Klaipėda. There are other companies that transport goods from China to Lithuania. I don’t think that everything would suddenly stop here,” V. Šileika told BNS
According to him, cargo is not directly transported from China to Klaipėda – it is transhipped in major European ports. However, according to V. Šileika, a Chinese shipping company operates in Europe and ferries them to ports.
“The cargo does not come directly from China itself – it is transhipped at major European distribution ports, but it is even transported around Europe by Chinese companies such as Cosco.” It is difficult to decide whether steps would be taken to limit the activities of this company when transporting goods to Lithuania,” stated V. Šileika.
According to him, China can end cooperation with Lithuania in the field of communication in two ways – diplomatically and practically.
“The first option – it would be possible to terminate the relations at the diplomatic level, concerning some agreement and documents signed by the Ministry of Transport of Lithuania and possibly the Ministry of Transport of China”, stated V. Šileika.
“Another question is about the practical aspect of communication. We so welcome Chinese imports that come from China, there is also a Chinese shipping company that transports those cargoes and containers from China. “Aryas will be ordered to stop their activities and stop entering the port of Klaipėda, it’s hard to say,” said the president of the Association of Lithuanian Sea Cargo Companies.
In response to the visit of the vice minister of communications to Taiwan this week, China announced that it would impose sanctions on it and terminate cooperation with the ministry and especially communications with Lithuania, Reuters news agency reported on Friday.
According to the report, the decision was taken by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On its website, it is announced that the visit of Lithuania’s Deputy Minister of Communications Agnes Vaiciukevičiūtė to Taiwan is a violation of the one-China principle, a serious interference in its internal affairs and a violation of the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
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