Taiwan opens representation in Lithuania

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Tsai Ing-wen is the president of the internationally isolated country

Photo: Ceng Shou Yi / NurPhoto / Getty Images

Despite threats from Beijing, Taiwan has opened a representation in Lithuania called "Taiwan's Representative Office."

The office had "officially started its work" in Vilnius, announced the Foreign Ministry in Taipei on Thursday.

The naming is an affront for Beijing, which sees Taiwan as a breakaway province and wants to isolate it internationally.

For fear of Chinese reprisals, Taiwan usually refers to its de facto embassies abroad as "Taipei Representation".

Conversely, for example, Germany's diplomatic mission in the Taiwanese capital Taipei is not officially an embassy, ​​but is referred to as the »German Institute«.

Beijing withdrew the ambassador from Vilnius

In July, however, the government in the EU country Lithuania, which is critical of China, allowed Taipei to use the name "Taiwan" for its representation.

Beijing then withdrew its ambassador from Vilnius and asked the Lithuanian government to also call their ambassador in Beijing back.

In addition, China stopped freight trains to Lithuania and no longer granted the country import permits for food.

The Taiwanese Foreign Ministry announced that the Lithuanian office will be headed by Eric Huang, who is currently Taipei's office manager in neighboring Latvia.

"We are very happy to have the opportunity to promote relations between Taiwan and Lithuania," Huang told AFP.

Regarding the use of the name Taiwan, he said it was "of course very significant" - but he did not want to "emphasize the geopolitical context" too much.

After decades of pressure from Beijing, only 15 countries officially recognize Taiwan as a state.

Recently, however, other Eastern European countries such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia had moved closer to Taipei again despite China's protests.

Beijing is also threatening to unite the democratically ruled island with the communist mainland by force if necessary.

However, the protective power of the USA is behind the government in Taipei.

Dozens of Beijing warplanes had entered the Taiwanese air defense zone in the past few months.

Taiwan put the first squadron of modern F-16 fighter jets into service on Thursday.

The US-made F-16V jet is designed to strengthen the island's defenses against the threat from China.

The sale of the aircraft had been approved under the former US President Donald Trump.

muk / AFP