China Urges Lithuania To Treat Taiwan Issue 'With Caution' - Foreign Ministry

China strongly opposes any form of official interaction between Taiwan and countries that have diplomatic relations with China and urges Lithuania to treat the Taiwan issue "with caution," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Tuesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th November, 2022) China strongly opposes any form of official interaction between Taiwan and countries that have diplomatic relations with China and urges Lithuania to treat the Taiwan issue "with caution," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Tuesday.

In late September, the director-general of the Taiwanese foreign ministry's office for Europe, Remus Chen, said that Lithuania's trade representative office in Taipei will open after all the necessary documents for its accreditation are submitted. On Monday, Lithuania opened a trade office in Taiwan, Bloomberg reported, adding that the move may jeopardize Vilnius-Beijing relations.

"There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an integral part of the People's Republic of China. China strongly opposes any form of official interaction between Taiwan and countries that have diplomatic relations with China, strongly opposes any action that violates China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, strongly opposes any deviation from the general consensus of the international community and any action that contradicts the basic norms of international relations," the diplomat said at a briefing.

Zhao also called on Lithuania to adhere to the principle of one China, to "treat the Taiwan issue with caution," and to properly protect the political basis of bilateral relations between Beijing and Vilnius.

Lithuania-China relations became strained after Taiwan opened its representative office in Vilnius in November 2021. In retaliation, China unilaterally downgraded its diplomatic relations with Lithuania to the level of charges d'affaires.