The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman for supporting Lithuania developing ties with Taiwan during her call with Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis.
Sherman and Landsbergis during their talk on Friday “emphasized the strength and breadth of the US-Lithuanian bilateral relationship, which is grounded in our NATO Alliance; strengthening US-EU cooperation, including on China; and our common commitment to advance peace, prosperity, security, democracy, and human rights in the Transatlantic region and across the globe,” US Department of State spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
Sherman “reiterated the United States is resolute in our solidarity with our NATO Ally and EU partner Lithuania, including standing with them in the face of the People’s Republic of China’s recent coercive behavior in response to Lithuania’s decision to develop mutually beneficial ties with Taiwan,” he said.
Photo: CNA
The Baltic country’s relations with China soured after it agreed with Taiwan’s plan to establish a Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania. It also plans to open a representative office in Taiwan this fall.
Lithuanian Ambassador to China Diana Mickeviciene on Wednesday said she had been asked to leave the country, one day after Beijing recalled its Ambassador Shen Zhifei (申知非) from Vilnius.
“Our strength is our allies & shared conviction that freedom & democracy will prevail,” Landsbergis wrote on Twitter yesterday.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement thanked the US for its firm support.
Washington has demonstrated its position as a leader of the global alliance of democracies at a time when other democratic countries are facing coercion by an authoritarian regime, the ministry said.
The ministry reiterated its stance that it would continue to promote practical and mutually beneficial relations with other like-minded partners, without flinching due to any outside pressure.
The Taipei Mission in the Republic of Latvia, which also oversees relations with Lithuania, on Friday rejected a statement published by the Chinese embassy in Lithuania in a local newspaper on Saturday last week.
The Chinese embassy’s statement that “Taiwan is part of China” is misleading and false, the mission said in a statement.
The Republic of China (Taiwan) is a sovereign state that has never been governed by the People’s Republic of China, it said.
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