Veryga calls restoring China ties a diplomatic minimum
Wednesday 11th November 2026 on 08:45 in
Lithuania
Lithuania should restore normal diplomatic relations with China, but that would not mean seeking closer friendship with Beijing or changing the country’s foreign policy direction, governing Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union leader Aurelijus Veryga said on Wednesday, LRT reported.
“We are talking specifically about diplomatic relations, just a normal, basic minimum, not some kind of super-relationship,” Veryga told Žinių radijas.
He said Lithuania had maintained normal relations with both Taiwan and China before Gabrielius Landsbergis led the Foreign Ministry. Efforts to restore diplomatic ties with Beijing therefore should not be viewed as an unpredictable foreign policy shift, Veryga said. He argued that Lithuania should have diplomatic relations at a level maintained by many other European Union and NATO members.
“We want China to have an ambassador in Lithuania and Lithuania to have an ambassador in China,” he said, adding that embassies could assist citizens and provide information about developments in each country.
Veryga also criticised Taiwan, saying it had not fulfilled all the commitments it made to Lithuania. He suggested that some Lithuanian lawmakers who travelled to Taiwan might now feel obliged to repay the hospitality they received. He said good relations with Taiwan did not require departing from usual diplomatic practice, and that friends should not create difficulties for one another.
LRT reported, citing Delfi, that on September 24 Foreign Ministry representatives gave Constance H. Wang, head of Taiwan’s representative office in Vilnius, an informal document urging Taiwan to change the office’s name by October 1. In return, Taiwan was reportedly offered an agreement on investment prospects and talks on avoiding double taxation.
The opening of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania in late 2021 sharply worsened relations between Vilnius and Beijing, after which China imposed diplomatic and economic restrictions on Lithuania. The current government’s programme calls for efforts to normalise diplomatic relations with China.