China has not asked Lithuania to rename Taiwan office

China has not asked Lithuania to change the name of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Vilnius, Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said, LRT reported Wednesday.

His remarks came as a Chinese diplomatic delegation visited Lithuania. The delegation is due to meet Foreign Ministry representatives on Thursday to discuss ways to restore diplomatic relations between the countries. No meeting with the prime minister is planned.

The Chinese delegation met members of a temporary parliamentary group on Wednesday. Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys will not attend Thursday’s meeting at the ministry.

“No one has made such a request so far,” Sinkevičius told reporters. He said he wanted to hear the delegation’s official position, adding that public discussion had included “interpretations and various noise.”

Changing the office’s name has been discussed as one possible step towards restoring relations. The office opened in Vilnius after Lithuania’s previous government allowed Taipei to establish it. Similar offices in other countries use the name Taipei. Chinese state media have reported that changing the office’s name alone would not be enough to restore ties.

Delfi reported this week that the Foreign Ministry asked the office in September to change its name, offering several bilateral economic agreements and a special envoy for Taiwan at the ministry in return. The report said the ministry asked Taiwan to act by October 1. Budrys has said the possibility of changing the name was discussed with Taiwan but that it was not an ultimatum. Taipei does not plan to change the name.

Relations deteriorated in 2021 after the office opened. Beijing unilaterally downgraded diplomatic representation from ambassador level to chargé d’affaires level. Lithuania, in turn, declined to issue new accreditations for Chinese diplomats, and no Chinese diplomats have been in the country since May last year.