Taiwan to use own name at Lithuania office

TAIPEI: Taiwan announced yesterday it will set up an office in Lithuania using its colloquial name in a significant diplomatic departure that sparked condemnation from China.

Taiwan’s first diplomatic outpost in Europe in 18 years will be called the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania, not the Taipei Office.

The self-ruled democracy of some 23 million people, known officially as the Republic of China, is only recognised as a country by 15 other nations.

Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu called the move “very significant”.

“Lithuania is a good partner for Taiwan who shares the same values for freedom and democracy,” Wu said in a virtual briefing, adding both are on the “strategic frontline of defending democratic systems”.

The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said it planned to open a trade office in Taipei this autumn.

“Lithuania is interested in expanding its cooperation with Taiwan in various fields, laying particular emphasis on the development of economic relations and cultural exchanges.”

Beijing tries to keep Taipei isolated on the world stage and balks at any official use of the word “Taiwan”, lest it lend the island a sense of international legitimacy.

“We urge Lithuania to abide by the One China Principle,” said China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Zhu Fenglian.

The opening of the Vilnius office is the latest sign that some Baltic and central European countries are seeking closer relations with Taiwan, even if that angers China.

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

In 2019, Czech Republic capital Prague cancelled a sister-city agreement with Beijing and signed one with Taipei.