Chinese diplomats to discuss restoring ambassador-level ties with Lithuania

Chinese diplomats will visit Lithuania on Nov. 11 and 12 for talks on restoring diplomatic representation at ambassador level, LRT reported, citing parliamentarian Ignas Vėgėlė.

Vėgėlė told BNS on Friday that the diplomats would meet representatives of Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry and a group of members of parliament seeking to normalise diplomatic relations with China to the level maintained by European Union member states.

The delegation will include, among others, a deputy director general of the European affairs department at China’s foreign ministry and an adviser to China’s mission to the EU who represents China in Lithuania, Vėgėlė said.

Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said in an interview with BNS in October that he hoped to achieve a breakthrough in talks with China by the end of the year. Restoring diplomatic representation is included in his government’s programme.

Lithuania-China relations deteriorated in autumn 2021, after Vilnius allowed Taiwan to open a Taiwanese Representative Office in the capital. Such offices in other countries operate under the name Taipei. China then unilaterally downgraded diplomatic representation from ambassador level to chargé d’affaires. Lithuania later declined to issue new accreditations to Chinese diplomats, leaving the country without any Chinese diplomats since May last year.

Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry declined on Friday to answer BNS questions about a possible change to the office’s name, talks with Taipei on an economic cooperation action plan, and negotiations with China. The ministry said it had no new information on the issues.

Taiwan’s representative office in Lithuania said on Facebook that cooperation between Taiwan and Lithuania was based on mutual respect, shared interests, transparency and partnership. It also said public discussion of relations between the two should rely on verified facts rather than unsupported assumptions or speculation, without specifying the context for its remarks.