The Foreign Ministry says there are no plans to change the name of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania, even if diplomatic relations between China and the Baltic state return to normal.
The Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania was established in November 2021 and was the first representative office in Europe to use “Taiwan” in its official name. Since then, numerous Lithuanian parliamentary delegations have visited Taiwan, and the government’s Indo-Pacific strategy published in June emphasized its relations with Taiwan while warning of threats from Chinese coercion. China downgraded its diplomatic relations with Lithuania after the Taiwan office opening.
Recent media reports however say that China and Lithuania may be discussing a resumption of normal diplomatic relations. This has led to speculation in Taiwan that Lithuania may change the name of Taiwan’s representative office there as part of a deal with China.
Deputy Director-General of European Affairs Lin Chu-en (林主恩) addressed these concerns on Tuesday, saying that the problem of the office name change “does not exist”. Lin says that relations between Lithuania and Taiwan have been and remain strong. He says that the Lithuanian parliament Speaker Čmilytė-Nielsen’s visit to Taiwan in October, as well as Foreign Minister Joseph Wu’s (吳釗燮) visit to Lithuania in November demonstrate the strong ties. He says that while the media may be concerned about China lifting its economically coercive measures against Lithuania and the restoration of relations, the Foreign Ministry sees no problem with this.
