“It is difficult to say whether they made this step because our members of the Seimas travelled to Taiwan. Yes, this coincided, but we do not have precise indications. We cannot rule this out as all other issues. China shows that it draws red lines where it finds suitable. And only after one or another event countries are informed that they have crossed one or another line,” Landsbergis told reporters Wednesday.
The head of Lithuania’s diplomacy says that Chinese diplomats and representatives have not responded as to why visas are not issued and how long this might continue. He also mentioned that EU bodies were contacted over the issue.
According to Landsbergis, this is treated as yet another form of pressure by Beijing against Lithuania. He adds that already two years ago Lithuania issued recommendations to its citizens not to travel to China and they have not changed.
As reported, China stopped issuing visas to Lithuanians at the end of January. A delegation of 11 Lithuanian MPs visited Taiwan on 20-27 January and was the first to meet with the new president-elect.
Lithuania’s relationships with China deteriorated after the Taiwanese Representative Office was opened in Vilnius at the end of 2021. Beijing claimed that this violated the “one China” policy and imposed diplomatic and economic sanctions. China downgraded diplomatic relations from the ambassadorial level to the level of chargé d’affaires. Earlier, Lithuania withdrew from the 17+1 cooperation format between countries of Central and Eastern Europe and China.