Lithuania to face ‘costly price’ for shadowing US with risky Taiwan visit

Following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s provocative visit to Taiwan and disregard of the international community’s harsh criticism of her irresponsible move and China’s unprecedented large-scale military drill across the Straits, Lithuania sent a delegation of 11 officials to the island on Sunday. Experts warned that any attempt by the Lithuanian side to trample on the one-China principle could result in severe consequences, including Beijing’s severing of diplomatic ties with the country.

In the context of already downgraded bilateral relations, China could even consider severing diplomatic ties

Lithuanian Deputy Transport and Communications Minister Agne Vaiciukevi i$t-, leading an 11-member delegation, arrived in the island for a five-day visit on Sunday, the Taiwan external affairs department said in an update on Twitter.

Experts noted that Lithuania’s decision to visit the island at such a tense time is a vicious and obvious provocation, and China should step up its response to it.

“If it is to play with fire on the one-China principle, then the dangerous act will come at great cost. In the context of already downgraded bilateral relations, China could even consider severing diplomatic ties,” Liu Zuokui, a research fellow on European studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), told the Global Times on Monday.

Lithuania and the US are using each other over the Taiwan question, Cui Hongjian, director of the Department of European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Monday.

“Lithuania believes Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan showed the US’ attitude and regarded it as encouragement, which it should closely follow to show its coordination, loyalty and support to the US in order to gain more support from it.

While some in the West hyped up Pelosi’s visit, saying it would prompt more countries to do the same and further challenge China’s bottom line, observers expressed confidence in China’s slew of countermeasures, both diplomatically and militarily, which have effectively deterred such dangerous thoughts.