Lithuania says it briefed US on Taiwan office name proposal

Lithuania informed US officials about its proposal concerning the name of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Vilnius, President Gitanas Nausėda’s chief national security adviser Deividas Matulionis said Tuesday, LRT reported. He said Lithuania hoped to resolve questions involving its relations with China and Taiwan this year.

Matulionis said he wanted a more balanced response from Taiwan to Lithuania’s proposal. Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry officials have said the office’s name will not be changed.

The issue returned to public debate after the news outlet Delfi reported on Monday that Lithuania had proposed in September that Taiwan change the office’s name in exchange for several bilateral economic agreements and the creation of a special envoy position for Taiwan at Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry.

Lithuania’s government wants to restore diplomatic relations with China. Beijing considers the office’s name an obstacle to normalising relations, saying it helps Taiwan assert statehood. Matulionis said China views the issue as a red line and that Lithuania needed to seek a diplomatic solution.

He said informing the United States did not mean Lithuania was seeking its approval, describing the matter as one for Lithuania to decide. He also said Lithuania would not change its policies towards China or Taiwan and that he did not want to discuss closing the office, as diplomatic options had not been exhausted.

Restoring diplomatic relations with China is included in the government programme, Matulionis said. He linked the effort to Lithuania’s security interests and its upcoming presidency of the Council of the European Union, which begins in January. He said Lithuania’s immediate security threat was Russia and urged a focus on defence and deterrence.