{"id":1039895,"date":"2021-11-21T10:43:59","date_gmt":"2021-11-21T15:43:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1039895"},"modified":"2021-11-21T10:44:08","modified_gmt":"2021-11-21T15:44:08","slug":"china-downgrades-diplomatic-ties-with-lithuania-over-taiwan-embassy-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/china-downgrades-diplomatic-ties-with-lithuania-over-taiwan-embassy-row\/","title":{"rendered":"China Downgrades Diplomatic Ties with Lithuania Over Taiwan Embassy Row"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fchina-downgrades-diplomatic-ties-with-lithuania-over-taiwan-embassy-row%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1039895&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-1236643663-640x335-1.png\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">AFP \u2014 China has officially downgraded diplomatic ties with Lithuania in protest, the foreign ministry in Beijing said Sunday, after Taiwan established a de facto embassy in Vilnius.<\/p>\n<p>Lithuania allowing Taipei to open an office using the name Taiwan was a significant diplomatic departure that defied a pressure campaign by Beijing.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>China baulks at any official use of the word \u201cTaiwan\u201d, lest it lend a sense of international legitimacy to the island \u2014 which it considers a part of its territory to be taken one day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Chinese government had to lower diplomatic relations between the two countries\u2026 to safeguard its sovereignty and the basic norms of international relations,\u201d the ministry said in a statement announcing the downgrade to the charge d\u2019affaires level.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Lithuanian government must bear all consequences that arise from this.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>It added that Lithuania had \u201cabandoned the political commitment made upon the establishment of diplomatic relations\u201d with China.<\/p>\n<p>It was a reference to the \u201cOne China\u201d policy, under which countries officially recognise Beijing over Taipei.<\/p>\n<p>Lithuania\u2019s foreign ministry on Sunday said it \u201cregrets\u201d China\u2019s decision to downgrade ties.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLithuania reaffirms its adherence to the \u2018One China\u2019 policy, but at the same time has the right to expand cooperation with Taiwan,\u201d the ministry said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Taiwan announced in July that it would open the office, its first new diplomatic outpost in Europe in 18 years.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>That prompted a fierce rebuke from China. It withdrew its ambassador from Lithuania and demanded Vilnius do the same, which it eventually did.<\/p>\n<p>China also halted freight trains to Lithuania and stopped issuing food export permits.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"6.4468085106383\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Defying Beijing Warnings, Taiwan Opens Embassy in Lithuania <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Ac9uevhNg6\">https:\/\/t.co\/Ac9uevhNg6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartLondon\/status\/1461636618243166212?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 19, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The opening of the Vilnius office is the latest sign that some Baltic and central European countries are seeking closer relations with Taiwan, even if that angers China.<\/p>\n<p>In May, Lithuania announced it was quitting China\u2019s 17+1 cooperation forum with central and eastern European states, calling it \u201cdivisive\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>Politicians in the Czech Republic have also pushed for closer ties with Taiwan.<\/p>\n<p>Only 15 countries officially recognise Taipei over Beijing.<\/p>\n<p>But Taiwan maintains embassy equivalent representative offices with many nations and several countries have similar arrangements in Taipei.<\/p>\n<p>International support for the island has grown since China\u2019s President Xi Jinping came to power.<\/p>\n<p>A growing number of unofficial diplomatic visits have taken place between Taiwanese, European and American officials in recent months.<\/p>\n<p>Xi has ushered in a more authoritarian and muscular era, taking a markedly more aggressive approach to Taipei since the 2016 election of President Tsai Ing-wen.<\/p>\n<p>She is loathed by Beijing because she regards Taiwan as an already sovereign nation and not part of \u201cone China\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Beijing has also poached several of Taiwan\u2019s diplomatic allies in recent years, including Panama, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"10.566037735849\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Lithuanian MP Dovil\u0117 \u0160akalien\u0117 told Breitbart London that her country \u201cdoes not respond well to threats\u2026 we\u2019ve been used to threats for more than half a century (under Soviet Rule).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are small but we are tough,&#8221; she said.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Db5W0tlliV\">https:\/\/t.co\/Db5W0tlliV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartLondon\/status\/1426176713537458180?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 13, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AFP \u2014 China has officially downgraded diplomatic ties with Lithuania in protest, the foreign ministry in Beijing said Sunday, after Taiwan established a de facto embassy in Vilnius. Lithuania allowing &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1039895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1039895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1039895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1039895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1039895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1039895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1039895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}