Lithuania invests five times as much in China as China does in Lithuania and stands to lose more jobs if bilateral trade ceases. Lithuanian Member of Parliament Matas Maldeikis made the remarks in an interview with Radio Taiwan International during his visit to Taipei.
Maldeikis headed a 10-member Baltic Parliamentary delegation to Taiwan last week which included lawmakers from Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. He is also the chair of the Lithuanian Parliamentary Group for Relations with Taiwan.
Maldeikis said that Lithuania has calculated the moves Beijing might take when its capital, Vilnius, welcomed a Taiwanese Representative Office in November. He said since Beijing has a trade surplus with Lithuania, China is likely to lose more jobs than Lithuania if it cuts economic ties between the two countries. Lithuania exports less than one percent of its goods to China.
China is Lithuania’s 22nd largest export market at 300 million Euros a year and its 7th largest importer at 1.2 billion Euros. Swedbank’s Lithuania chief economist Nerijus Mačiulis says the nation could lose one half of one percent of GDP growth from Chinese sanctions.
China has reportedly removed Lithuania from its customs registry with shipments not being cleared through customs and import applications being rejected. Lithuania's foreign minister is asking the EU to intervene on its behalf
During the interview, Maldeikis said it was in Lithuania’s national interest to engage with Taiwan because “the national security of Taiwan is the national security of Lithuania.” He cited a domino effect in foreign policy: if a democracy falls in one area, other democracies will feel the pressure. Maldeikis said Lithuania has chosen to be on the side of democracy.
