In fresh weeks China has lowered diplomatic relations with Lithuania, stopped issuing visas for its citizens and reached for economical sanctions, completely blocking imports from the Baltic country.
== sync, corrected by elderman ==It is simply a retaliation for the fact that, despite Beijing protests, the Lithuanian government agreed to open the Taiwanese typical Office in Vilnius. – Lithuania is simply a subject in the competitions. We have the most common challenge in the planet to draw the attention of the United States – Assesses Leszek Slazyk, China expert at Contemporary China Studies Institute. As he emphasises, Poland stands in this conflict on the part of China, but at the same time in the economical sphere it is taking action which is contrary to declarations about the desire to keep appropriate relations with Beijing.
– Lithuania is simply a subject in the games. I think the Lithuanian authorities have drawn besides far-reaching conclusions from any roundabout talks, conducted distant from microphones and cameras. This is simply a tiny country that doesn't actually have any commercial relations with China. Since the beginning of independent Lithuania, China has invested only EUR 3 million there, so this is simply a country that is of no importance to them. It is, on the another hand, a large example of what can happen to another countries that will decide in the same way to address very delicate issues for China – This is Leszek Slazyk.
The Chinese-Lithuanian conflict has been exacerbated since the Taiwan typical Office opened in Vilnius on 18 November. Beijing has upset not so much about the formation of an unofficial diplomatic mission, but about the usage in its name of the word “Taiwan” alternatively of the Chinese counterpart “Taipei”. The authorities of the People's Republic of China consider that this undermines their sovereignty and constitutes interference in interior affairs. Taiwan has for years been considered by China to be a rebellious state and part of its territory, and Beijing has sought to take control of the island in accordance with the alleged policy of 1 China. This is simply a regulation in force in interior and global policy, which assumes that there is only 1 country, consisting of mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
“Lithuania began to inform at the end of August that it wanted to establish closer diplomatic relations with Taiwan. That, of course, triggered Beijing's immediate reaction.. Since the late 1970s, it has been known that if Chinese diplomacy is to be out of balance, Taiwan is an independent state. And that's precisely what Lithuania did – says expert Contemporary China Studies Institute. – According to any Chinese policies Taiwan is treated as a rebellious province. This is 1 of the priorities, 1 of the points on a Chinese body that is adequate to contact to trigger a reaction to the borderline of rage. It's been tested for years and it always works that way.
Over the past weeks, China has already reduced diplomatic relations with Lithuania to the level of charge d’affaires and has stopped issuing visas to Lithuanian citizens. Last week Beijing besides reached for economical sanctions – removed Lithuania from the list of countries of origin in the customs register, which almost completely blocked imports from the Baltic country.
“China has joined those methods of action which they learned from the United States from the time of Trump, that is, they have taken Lithuania with all kinds of embargoes, they have suspended issuing visas to Lithuanian citizens, and cooperation with Lithuanian companies has been suspended. Recently, a memorandum was introduced aimed at abroad companies or alleged multinational co-operation, saying that any materials, natural materials and components originating in Lithuania are prohibited in the widely understood production. Lithuania consequently withdrew its full diplomatic corps from China – This is Leszek Slazyk.
As he believes, the full situation is simply a provocation that aims to draw the attention of the United States, but possibly can prove very harmful to Lithuanian security.
– Lithuania did so on an outside command, due to the fact that they have absolutely no interest in it but possibly gaining the kindness of the United States. However, what kind of kindness is this, we can see from the example of Ukraine. Many years ago, erstwhile Ukraine gained independency and the russian atomic arsenal remained in its territory – it was returned to Russia in exchange for American safety guarantees, which, as we have known for respective years, have been worth a pound. And the same thing will happen if Russia threatens Lithuania – here besides it will end with declarations and possible noises, but there will be no real activity. In turn China will have no interest in saying a good word towards Lithuania in this Russian-Lithuanian context. On the contrary, they'll just don't care – Says the expert.
In addition to Lithuania, diplomatic relations with Taiwan now have respective countries in the world. Many countries, including Poland, nevertheless keep their facilities there, were referred to as commercial offices. The European Union Delegation besides operates on this basis.
– Minister Rau said straight during his September visit to Vilnius that Poland stands in Beijing's position, supports this option of China's policy and considers Taiwan to be a state of the People's Republic of China – This is Leszek Slazyk.
The expert notes, however, that in the economical area, any of the activities undertaken by Poland are contrary to the declarations which aim to keep appropriate relations with Beijing. 1 example is the Act on the National Cybersecurity System, which the government has been working on for over a year. The mechanisms contained in it exclude from the Polish marketplace certain providers of ICT equipment and services on the basis of nationality criteria which are highly recognisable. Most experts indicate that they are targeted straight at technology suppliers from your centre – mainly in the Chinese technology company Huawei.
– These are contradictory signals coming from members of the same government, so it is hard to find what we truly think about our cooperation with China – says expert Contemporary China Studies Institute.
