With Lithuania recalling its last diplomats from China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged the public and businesses to support Lithuanian products, and listed ways to boost bilateral economic ties.
“Lithuania’s Charge d’ Affaires ad interim in China Audra Ciapiene returns to Vilnius for consultations,” the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Wednesday.
“In the absence of a substitute diplomat in Beijing, the Lithuanian Embassy to China will continue its operations remotely,” it added.
Photo: AFP
“Lithuania is ready to continue the dialogue with China and restore the functions of the embassy to their full extent once a mutually beneficial agreement has been reached,” the statement said.
In Taipei, the foreign ministry yesterday expressed its “highest respect” to the Lithuanian government and its diplomatic policymakers.
Taiwan will continue to stand with Vilnius, while engaging the forces and resources of international democratic partners to demonstrate the solidarity and resilience of the global democratic alliance, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a news briefing in Taipei.
The Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania opened in Vilnius on Nov. 18, despite the lack of formal relations.
Lithuania’s representative office in Taiwan is expected to open next year, Ou said, citing Lithuanian Minister of the Economy and Innovation Ausrine Armonaite as saying in October.
Ou called on domestic businesses and all Taiwanese to extend their full support to Lithuania for the two sides to develop closer and mutually beneficial ties.
Asked how it would bolster economic ties with Vilnius, Ou reiterated the government’s resolve to boost cooperation on trade, investment and industry, as well as strengthening supply chain security.
To help Lithuania shift its market focus, the government on Sept. 15 held an online business matchmaking meeting, she said.
The government also sent a 66-strong trade delegation to visit Lithuania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic from Oct. 20 to 30.
The Taiwanese delegation cohosted more than 280 business-to-business meetings in Lithuania, and the two sides signed six memorandums of understanding to promote cooperation in semiconductor curricula, semiconductor development, crystal research, space and satellite technology, biomedicine and financing, Ou said.
Lithuania is also participating in Food Taipei, which is to take place at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Hall from Wednesday to Saturday next week, Ou said.
Taiwan welcomes Enterprise Lithuania’s announcement that starting next year, it would be working with e-commerce company PChome Online Inc (網路家庭), Ou added.
Taiwan and Lithuania are also stepping up bilateral exchanges in the laser industry, smart vehicles, smart cities and other areas, she said.
At the news briefing, Ou also thanked the US Congress for its continual support for Taiwan’s security, after the US Senate on Wednesday passed the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, which is now awaiting US President Joe Biden’s signature.
The bill reiterates the US’ commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act and “six assurances.” It also expresses support for Taiwan to maintain sufficient self-defense capabilities and US soldiers to work with Taiwan, as well as inviting Taiwan to join next year’s Rim of the Pacific Exercise.
The government will continue to work closely with the US and fulfill its responsibility to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the Indo-Pacific region, Ou said.
Separately, the Ministry of National Defense thanked the US Congress for promoting Taiwan-friendly legislation, ministry spokesman Major General Shih Shun-wen (史順文) said.
Officials are observing developments to make relevant policy preparations, he added.
Additional reporting by Wu Su-wei
CROSS-STRAIT COLLABORATION: The new KMT chairwoman expressed interest in meeting the Chinese president from the start, but she’ll have to pay to get in Beijing allegedly agreed to let Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) around the Lunar New Year holiday next year on three conditions, including that the KMT block Taiwan’s arms purchases, a source said yesterday. Cheng has expressed interest in meeting Xi since she won the KMT’s chairmanship election in October. A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a consensus on a meeting was allegedly reached after two KMT vice chairmen visited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in China last month. Beijing allegedly gave the KMT three conditions it had to
STAYING ALERT: China this week deployed its largest maritime show of force to date in the region, prompting concern in Taipei and Tokyo, which Beijing has brushed off Deterring conflict over Taiwan is a priority, the White House said in its National Security Strategy published yesterday, which also called on Japan and South Korea to increase their defense spending to help protect the first island chain. Taiwan is strategically positioned between Northeast and Southeast Asia, and provides direct access to the second island chain, with one-third of global shipping passing through the South China Sea, the report said. Given the implications for the US economy, along with Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductors, “deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” it said. However, the strategy also reiterated
‘BALANCE OF POWER’: Hegseth said that the US did not want to ‘strangle’ China, but to ensure that none of Washington’s allies would be vulnerable to military aggression Washington has no intention of changing the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Saturday, adding that one of the US military’s main priorities is to deter China “through strength, not through confrontation.” Speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, Hegseth outlined the US Department of Defense’s priorities under US President Donald Trump. “First, defending the US homeland and our hemisphere. Second, deterring China through strength, not confrontation. Third, increased burden sharing for us, allies and partners. And fourth, supercharging the US defense industrial base,” he said. US-China relations under
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
RSS