Lithuania Reportedly Asked Taiwan to Rename Its Vilnius Office; Taiwan's Foreign Ministry Says There Are No Plans to Change the Name
Taipei — Taiwan's Deputy Foreign Minister Chen Ming-chi told lawmakers on November 10 that the name of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania was decided by consensus through careful consultation between the two sides with the goal of deepening bilateral ties, and that Taiwan currently has no plans to change it. A day earlier, Lithuanian media reported that the Lithuanian government had asked Taiwan to rename the office.
According to Lithuanian National Radio and Television on November 9, citing the Delfi news portal, Lithuanian foreign ministry representatives handed an informal document to Constance H. Wang, head of the Taiwanese Representative Office, on September 24, asking that the office be renamed by October 1. In exchange, Lithuania reportedly offered to send a deputy-ministerial delegation to Taipei and to open negotiations on investment and avoiding double taxation. The representative office had previously told Lithuanian media it did not intend to change the name.
The Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania opened in Vilnius on November 18, 2021, and is the only Taiwanese mission in Europe whose name uses 'Taiwanese.' After it opened, China downgraded its diplomatic relations with Lithuania to the chargé d'affaires level and imposed sanctions, and relations have not been restored. The Lithuanian Trade Representative Office in Taipei opened on November 7, 2022.
The current Lithuanian government's programme calls for restoring diplomatic representation with China to the level maintained by other European Union member states. President Gitanas Nausėda has said a name change can be discussed, but warned Lithuania must be prepared for a possible negative response; Seimas Speaker Juozas Olekas has said there is no need to rush a renaming.
(Source: Lithuanian National Radio and Television)
Source: Lithuanian National Radio and Television
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：立陶宛总统 Gitanas Nausėda（左，资料图）。日本内阁官房内阁广报室摄，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY 4.0，本站档案图复用。 / Photo: Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda (left, file photo). Photo by the Cabinet Public Affairs Office, Cabinet Secretariat of Japan, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. GSM archive image reused.
