LITHUANIAN LAWMAKER SAYS WIDE PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR TAIWAN POLICY

TAIPEI: A visiting Lithuanian lawmaker said on Monday his country’s warming relations with Taiwan has “wide support” from the public amid a row with China for allowing Taipei to open a de facto embassy.

Matas Maldeikis led a delegation of parliamentarians from Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia that arrived in Taiwan on Sunday, the latest in a recent string of visits by foreign politicians despite Beijing’s opposition.

China claims sovereignty over self-ruled democratic Taiwan and vows to retake it one day, by force if necessary.

It has become increasingly bellicose towards Taiwan since the 2016 election of President Tsai Ing-wen, who rejects its stance that the island is part of Chinese territory.

Lithuania is among a group of Baltic and Central European countries that are seeking closer ties with Taiwan, even if that angers Beijing.

In May, Lithuania announced it was quitting China’s 17+1 cooperation forum with Central and Eastern European states, calling it “divisive”.

Lithuania’s decision to allow Taiwan to open a representative office under its own name further infuriated China, which downgraded diplomatic ties with the country this month.

Meanwhile, China’s military is trying to wear out Taiwan’s armed forces with its repeated missions nearby, but Taiwan is capable of responding, Taipei’s defence minister said on Monday after a renewed spike in Chinese air force activity.

Taiwan scrambled fighters again on Sunday after 27 Chinese air force planes again entered its air defence identification zone. “Their intention is to slowly exhaust, to let you know that we have this power,” defence minister Chiu Kuocheng told reporters on the sidelines of a parliamentary briefing for lawmakers.