Taiwan is to establish a “Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania,” the first office in Europe to be called Taiwanese, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced yesterday.
“It is an important diplomatic breakthrough,” President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) wrote on Facebook, thanking diplomatic personnel for the significant achievement.
To expand the nation’s relations with central and eastern Europe, especially with Baltic nations, the government decided to establish the office in Vilnius, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) told an online news conference.
Photo: Reuters
The plan signals progress in Taiwan-Europe relations, as it has been 18 years since the nation last opened an office on the continent, the Taipei Representative Office in Bratislava, Slovakia, Wu said.
Taiwan and Lithuania are both situated on the front lines of defending democracy and freedom, he said.
A member of the EU and NATO, Lithuania is known for its strength in lasers, biotechnology, satellites and information technology, as well as agriculture and furniture, Wu said.
When the Taiwan Representative Office in the Republic of Somaliland opened last year, it was the first to use the name “Taiwan,” he said.
The planned office in Vilnius would be the first in Europe that is called “Taiwanese,” a nomenclature similar to the names of the British Office Taipei, the French Office in Taipei, the German Institute Taipei and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), he added.
The nation’s representative offices in countries without formal relations mostly use the word “Taipei,” such as the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US. Embassies in nations with formal ties use “Republic of China.”
The ministry is seeking a suitable location for the planned office, Wu said when asked about the inauguration date.
“Freedom-loving people should look out for each other,” he said, quoting Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis, who on June 22 confirmed that his government planned to donate 20,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Taiwan.
Lithuania plans to establish a trade office in Taiwan by the end of this year.
Following the news conference, the AIT issued a statement backing the plan to establish the office in Lithuania.
“All countries should be free to pursue closer ties and greater cooperation with Taiwan, a leading democracy, a major economy, and a force for good in the world,” the AIT said. “The United States remains committed to supporting Taiwan in a manner consistent with the US ‘one China’ policy as Taiwan strengthens its international partnerships and works to address global challenges, including COVID-19, investment screening, and supply chain resilience.”
The Taipei Mission in the Republic of Latvia is currently responsible for promoting relations with Baltic nations, including Lithuania and Estonia.
A video released by the mission yesterday showed Representative to Latvia Eric Huang (黃鈞耀) meeting Matas Maldeikis, chairman of the Lithuanian Parliamentary Group for Relations with Taiwan, in front of Vilnius Cathedral, making a toast with Taiwanese bubble tea purchased at a local shop.
Taiwan and Lithuania share many parallels in history and geopolitics, and the office’s establishment would open a new chapter of bilateral economic cooperation and send a clear message that democracies must cooperate in the current geopolitical turbulence, Maldeikis said in the video.
Taiwan maintains formal diplomatic relations with 15 allies, with the Vatican being the only one in Europe.
Since taking office in May 2016, Tsai’s administration has lost seven diplomatic allies.
Taiwan last year opened the office in Somaliland and the Taipei Representative Office in France’s new branch in Aix-en-Provence. It also resumed operations at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Guam after a hiatus of three years.
NETWORK-MAPPING PROJECT: The database contains 170 detailed files of Taiwanese politicians and about 23 million records of household registration data in Taiwan China has developed a network-mapping project targeting political figures and parties in Taiwan to monitor public opinion during elections and to craft tailored influence campaigns aimed at dividing Taiwanese society, according to documents leaked by Chinese technology firm GoLaxy (中科天璣). The documents, collected by Taipei-based Doublethink Lab, showed a database was specifically created to gather detailed information on Taiwanese political figures, including their political affiliations, job histories, birthplaces, residences, education, religion and a brief biography about them. Several notable Taiwanese politicians are in the database, including President William Lai (賴清德), former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍),
RECOGNITION: Former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy serves as a stabilizing force in the Indo-Pacific region Taiwan can lead the unification of the Chinese people, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish president Lech Walesa said in Taipei yesterday, adding that as the world order is changing, peaceful discussion would find good solutions, and that the use of force and coercion would always fail. Walesa made the remarks during his keynote address at a luncheon of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, titled “Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan’s Values, Technology and Resilience,” organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Walesa said that he had been at the forefront of a big peaceful revolution and “if
North Korea tested nuclear-capable rocket launchers, state media reported yesterday, a day after Seoul detected the launch of about 10 ballistic missiles. The test comes after South Korean and US forces launched their springtime military drills, due to run until Thursday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday oversaw the testing of the multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS), the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The test involved 12 600mm-caliber ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers and two artillery companies, it said. Kim said the drill gave Pyongyang’s enemies, within the 420km striking range, a sense of “uneasiness” and “a deep understanding
North Korea yesterday fired about 10 ballistic missiles to the sea toward Japan, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, days after Pyongyang warned of “terrible consequences” over ongoing South Korea-US military drills. Pyongyang recently dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, Washington’s security ally, describing its latest peace efforts as a “clumsy, deceptive farce.” Seoul’s military detected “around 10 ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area in North Korea toward the East Sea [Sea of Japan] at around 1:20pm,” JCS said in a statement, referring to South Korea’s name for the body of water. The missiles
RSS