Lithuania’s intent is to enhance economic and technology relationships with Taiwan, which is an important supplier of semiconductors and has an efficient high-tech industry on which Lithuania would like to model itself
The main contention in Europe at present is between the Europeans and the US facing the Russian challenge over Ukraine. However, there is a sideshow going on between Lithuania and China over Taiwan.
In July 2021, Lithuania, a Baltic republic, announced the establishment of a Taiwanese representative office in Vilnius, its capital. On the face of it, this seemed a simple announcement. Taiwan has 27 offices in 23 European countries. Germany has four; France and Switzerland two each. All have regular diplomatic relations with China. The Vatican has an embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan), since it does not have diplomatic relations with China.
Such offices are named after the Taiwanese capital, and are called the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office or the Taipei representative office. In Lithuania, the office is the Taiwanese representative office. This has evoked the ire of China, as if Lithuania has stepped on the tail of the Dragon which is now breathing fire.
European Union members have 17 offices in Taiwan, but each one is called either an institute, trade or a cultural Office. This nomenclature allows Taiwan to have economic and cultural relations without using the name Taiwan or Republic of China. Any deviation from this is considered a violation of the One-China policy, as Lithuania discovers.
When the Taiwan office opened in Lithuania in November 2021, it was the only such office in the EU, which used the name Taiwanese. It appears that Slovenia is also going to join this scuffle. Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jan?a, in an interview with Doordarshan, referred to Taiwan as a “democratic country” with whom Slovenia would exchange offices as per the EU norm. Calling Taiwan a “country”, riled China again.
With Taiwan being the focus of Chinese aggressive intent and challenge emerging from the US and Japan, China is pricklier about nomenclature. What Lithuania has succeeded in doing is alter the delicate balance between EU members and China on the issue of Taiwan.
Currently Taiwan has formal diplomatic relations with 15 countries, which are mainly in the Pacific or in Latin America. From nearly 10 such relationships in Africa over a decade, they are down to one, with Eswatini.
China’s strong reaction created an issue while Europe is focused on Russia and Ukraine. Some would see Lithuania as a champion of democracy but the only difference is between the use of the term Taiwanese or Taipei.
Lithuania has not revoked its One-China policy. The Chinese foreign ministry believes that Lithuania undermined China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and created a bad precedent internationally by allowing use of the term Taiwan at the new office.
China downgraded its diplomatic representation and started imposing trade sanctions on Lithuania. China demurs that it has officially imposed sanctions. However, blocking of Lithuanian-related exports to China are seen at the customs. The larger issue is that German and other EU companies are told not to use Lithuanian components to stall the supply chain and hurt Lithuania. The EU which aims to support Lithuania against sanctions says it will complain to the WTO.
Lithuanian exports to China constitute merely 1 per cent of its total exports and if it was taking a brave position, then it could afford to do so at lower risk than major trading partners of China like Germany. Taiwan tries to compensate for the trade boycott; this includes an intent to invest $200 million, support credit lines of $1 billion and diversion of 20,000 bottles of Lithuanian rum which were destined for China, but likely to be blocked.
Lithuania is often the first to take bold steps. In 1990 it was the first to announce its independence from the USSR which led to several countries in Eastern Europe disengaging from the Soviet Union. In 2004, Lithuania joined the EU and NATO, along with Latvia, Estonia, the other Baltic Republics; however, Finland, the older independent republic has never been a part of NATO and has therefore shown a different policy in dealing with Russia.
Lithuania was a part of China’s ambitious 17+1 approach to Central and Eastern Europe. In 2012, this promised BRI funding for large-scale infrastructure development. The expectation was that the CEE region would have new infrastructure, renewal of old factories, investment in people and local projects that did not attract Western investors.
The Chinese attempted to cleave Europe through the 17+1 and included Greece as the 17th partner to show the investment in Piraeus port as a 17+1 project. However, no other major project succeeded and the finance expectant countries were disappointed. Lighthouse projects like the Budapest-Belgrade railway or the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant in Rumania were delayed.
At the last summit in February 2021, six of the 17 countries (Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Slovenia) downgraded their participation though China presented Xi Jinping to raise the stature of the meeting.
Seeing the limited results, Lithuania withdrew from it, as did Slovenia. Not only did Lithuania leave in May 2021, the Lithuanian foreign minister asked other EU countries to also abandon the initiative. “From our perspective, it is high time for the EU to move from a dividing 16+1 format to a more uniting and therefore much more efficient 27+1,” FM Landsbergis said. “The EU is strongest when all 27 member states act together along with EU institutions.”
Lithuania’s intent is to enhance economic and technology relationships with Taiwan, which is an important supplier of semiconductors and has an efficient high-tech industry on which Lithuania would like to model itself. Slovakia and the Czech Republic are also looking at a higher profile of engaging Taiwan.
It seems from local discussion in Vilnius that Lithuania thought it was within the EU framework of engaging Taiwan. The use of the Taiwan name was suggested by Taipei. Was it a deliberate provocation to the Chinese Dragon? Or was there a local lack of clarity on the name in translation that led to this situation? If Lithuania is not spoiling for a fight, then it may just tell Taiwan to abide by the names EU members use.
Or is this the beginning of a tighter China policy by the EU?
The writer is a former Ambassador to Germany. Views expressed are personal.
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