Lithuania’s new ruling coalition agreed last year that the incoming government must support the people of Taiwan in their “struggle for freedom.
The flag of the Baltic State of Lithuania. (Photo source: levashove.livejournal.com)
The Lithuanian State Radio and Television (LRT) reported on February 2 that the Lithuanian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee passed a resolution in February to support Lithuania’s departure from the Beijing-led 17-country China-Central and Eastern Europe cooperation mechanism (“17+1”). Lithuania is also planning to set up a representative office in Taiwan.
According to Žygimantas Pavilionis, a former senior Lithuanian diplomat and current chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Lithuanian Parliament, the Chinese Communist Party is trying to take over the infrastructure of Central and Eastern European countries through the “17+1” mechanism, but Lithuania should not risk accepting it.
Pavilionis also said that Lithuania is preparing to turn to cooperation with other democracies in the region, such as Taiwan. Lithuania is planning to expand relations with Taiwan and establish an economic representative office.
After the Lithuanian Parliament adopted the resolution “17+1” to leave Beijing, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis noted that the cooperation mechanism between Beijing and the 17 countries of Central and Eastern Europe The “17+1” resolution is “of little benefit to Lithuania” and the current widely divergent positions of the countries towards the Communist Party of China will also lead to the fragmentation of European countries.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius. (Photo credit: Linkevicius Twitter)
However, he mentioned that Lithuania is not leaving the “17+1” immediately, but should think about promoting some more effective strategies for China relations.
It is understood that the “17+1” cooperation mechanism created by the Chinese Communist Party to bring in Central and Eastern European countries has been criticized in recent years for not delivering on its investment promises to these countries. The annual summit held in February this year, including Lithuania, Romania and other six countries only sent ministerial-level participation, also set a record for the lowest level of participation in previous years.
Since Lithuania also has historical experience of independence from the Soviet power, it is particularly sympathetic to Taiwan, which has been repeatedly threatened by the Chinese Communist Party in the international community, and the Lithuanian political circles also regard Taiwan as a model of democracy.
Led by Mantas Adomėnas, a member of the “Friends of Taiwan Group” in the Lithuanian Parliament, more than 200 political and intellectual elites, including 50 members of parliament, sent a joint letter to President Gitanas Nausėda last April in support of Taiwan’s membership in international organizations and the establishment of a representative office in Taiwan. In April last year, more than 200 political and intellectual elites, including members of parliament, sent a joint letter to President Gitanas Nausėda supporting Taiwan’s membership in international organizations and the establishment of a representative office in Taiwan.
Three political parties, including the Homeland Union, the Social Democratic Party and the Labor Party, which came to power after last October’s elections in Lithuania, pledged in the coalition governing agreement to promote a “values-based foreign policy” and to “defend those who struggle for freedom around the world, from Belarus to Taiwan.”
According to Wikipedia, the three Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia were part of the Russian Empire from the 18th to the 20th centuries, and remained independent until 1918, near the end of the First World War. However, they were also annexed by the Soviet Union soon after. Nazi Germany seized control of the area from the Soviet Union during World War II, and the three countries became independent again in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed.
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