China imposes sanctions on Lithuanian vice minister for visiting Taiwan

The state emblem of Lithuania at its embassy in Beijing, China, December 15, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rollins

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s foreign ministry said on Friday it had imposed sanctions on Lithuania’s deputy transport and communications minister, Agni Vaisikevisiot, for her visit to Taiwan, the latest development in a diplomatic row between Beijing and the European Union.

The foreign ministry said China would also suspend business with the Ministry of Vasikowice and Transport Cooperation with Lithuania, a small Baltic republic.

The Lithuanian Ministry of Transport and Communications said it regretted China’s announcement.

“Beijing chooses to continue and intensify the course of illegal actions against an EU member state,” the Lithuanian ministry said in a statement to Reuters.

“This is not only conducive to the development of China’s relations with the democratic world, but also reflects Beijing’s stated policy so far not to impede the development of a mutually beneficial relationship with Taiwan, one of the most advanced economies in the world.”

China claims Taiwan as its territory and opposes foreign politicians visiting the island. Democratically governed Taiwan rejects China’s allegations.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry on Saturday denounced the sanctions, saying they amount to “irrational revenge” on China’s part.

“Taiwan pledges to continue to do its utmost to help Lithuania confront the unreasonable and arbitrary repression of the Chinese government,” the ministry said in a statement.

The recent strengthening of Lithuanian relations with Taiwan angered Beijing and led to a decline in Lithuanian exports to China in the first quarter of this year to almost zero.

Vaisukevisiot said on Twitter on Friday that she had visited three cities and two seaports and held 14 meetings in Taiwan over five days.

“A fruitful week in Taiwan, looking at further avenues for LT Transport to collaborate with TW Shipping, Shipping and Aviation,” she wrote on Twitter, referring to Lithuania and Taiwan as their abbreviations.

Vaisiokivisiot visited Taiwan days after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited. In response to Pelosi’s visit, China launched extensive military exercises around Taiwan, imposing sanctions on Pelosi and trade restrictions with Taiwan.

When Jovita Neleubsen, Deputy Minister of Economy and Innovation of Lithuania, visited Taipei in June, she said that Lithuania plans to open a representative office in Taiwan in September.

Lithuania has come under constant Chinese pressure to reverse last year’s decision to allow Taiwan to open a de facto embassy in the capital, Vilnius, under its own name.

China downgraded diplomatic relations with Lithuania and pressured multinational companies to sever ties with it.

In January, the European Union launched a challenge at the World Trade Organization accusing China of discriminatory trade practices against Lithuania and claiming this threatens the integrity of the bloc’s single market.

China has said it has always adhered to WTO rules and that its problem with Lithuania is political rather than economic in nature.

Additional reporting by Yu Lun Tian in Beijing and Augustus Stankevicius in Vilnius; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in London. Editing by Mark Heinrich, Paul Simao and William Mallard

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