ANI
07 Jan 2022, 03:25 GMT+10
Beijing [China], January 7 (ANI): Lithuania has reportedly blocked a railway contract with a China-owned company, amid the growing tension between Vilnius and Beijing over the opening of Taiwan's mission in the Baltic nation.
"Lithuania reportedly blocked a railway contract with a Chinese firm. The nation has accused China of economic coercion," Global Times said in a Tweet.
The tensions have erupted between China and the Baltic nation when in November Lithuania angered China by allowing Taiwan to open a representative office in Vilnius, equivalent to an embassy. It escalated in recent times after Lithuania took steps to strengthen ties with Taiwan. China considers Taiwan as its integral part.
According to a report, Lithuania needs the support of the West and other foreign powers to counter Chinese aggression as it seems to be struggling almost alone against one of the world's economic and political superpowers.
According to the Hong Kong Post, Lithuania finds itself at the forefront of countries that identify China as the greatest threat as it dared to openly oppose Chinese President Xi Jinping's autocracy and Beijing's aggressive behaviour.
The representative office opened with the name "Taiwan Representative Office in Lithuania", thereby implicitly implying recognition of a legal entity separate from the mainland.
Beijing attacked Lithuania by lowering its diplomatic relations with them.
In addition, this month Beijing also demanded that Lithuanian officials surrender their identity documents in order to downgrade their diplomatic status. The demand was such a serious concern for Lithuania that Vilnius withdrew its remaining diplomats from China in mid-December, fearing for their safety.
Further, China has suspended the movement of freight trains connecting Vilnius as part of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It stopped processing Lithuanian food export license applications, according to Hong Kong Post. (ANI)Get a daily dose of Taiwan Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Taiwan Sun.
More InformationNEW YORK CITY, New York: With just weeks to spare before a potential government default, U.S. lawmakers passed a sweeping tax and spending...
PARIS, France: Fast-fashion giant Shein has been fined 40 million euros by France's antitrust authority over deceptive discount practices...
PALO ALTO/TEL AVIV: The battle for top AI talent has claimed another high-profile casualty—this time at Safe Superintelligence (SSI),...
FRANKLIN, Tennessee: Hundreds of thousands of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles are being recalled across the United States due to a potential...
REDMOND, Washington: Microsoft is the latest tech giant to announce significant job cuts, as the financial strain of building next-generation...
LONDON UK - U.S. stock markets were closed on Friday for Independence Day. Global Forex Markets Wrap Up Friday with Greeback Comeback...
MOSCOW, Russia: This week, Russia became the first country to officially recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan since...
CAIRO, Egypt: This week, both Hamas and Israel shared their views ahead of expected peace talks about a new U.S.-backed ceasefire plan....
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Trump administration has made public a visa decision that would usually be kept private. It did this to send...
MADRID, Spain: Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota and his younger brother, André Silva, have died in a car accident in Spain. Spanish...
LONDON, U.K.: An unrelenting heatwave sweeping across Europe has pushed early summer temperatures to historic highs, triggering deadly...
President Donald Trump's plans to build a space-based Golden Dome missile defense shield have drawn immediate criticism from China,...