"Relations between China and Lithuania should be based on the principle of mutual trust and international commitments. The president supports the strive to normalise diplomatic relations between Lithuania and China, but the interest must be mutual. The president hopes that China will change its decision to downgrade the level of diplomatic representation and that ambassadors will return to work in both countries," the Communications Group of the Office of the President stated in a written comment sent to ELTA on Tuesday.
However, the presidency notes that maintaining diplomatic ties with China does not mean that Lithuania should reject trade and economic relations with Taiwan.
Lithuania also expects that China, being a member of the United Nations Security Council, will not support Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and will instead contribute to stopping the war, said the president’s representatives.
The issue of relations with China returned to the agenda after the Social Democratic Party (LSDP) won parliamentary elections in October and prime minister-designate Gintautas Paluckas stated that bilateral ties should be improved.
According to Paluckas, if China decides to send its ambassador to Vilnius, Lithuania would react reciprocally to restore ties.
As reported, the Taiwanese Representation Office was opened in Vilnius at the end of 2021 leading to a row with China. Beijing accused Lithuania of violating the "one China policy" by using the title of Taiwan rather than Taipei, which it regards to be a breakaway province. China imposed tough economic and diplomatic sanctions, also downgrading the country’s diplomatic representation from the ambassadorial level to the level of chargé d’affaires.