TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Three Lithuanian parliamentarians last week called for an end to celebrations of Communist China's 70th anniversary and opening a Lithuanian representative office in Taiwan.

On Sunday (Oct. 6), Taipei's Department of Information and Tourism commissioner, Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏), shared on her Facebook page an article from the web portal Delfi in which Lithuanian parliamentary members Zygimantas Pavilionis, Ausrine Armonaite, and Audronius Azubalis called for an end to local celebrations of the founding of Communist China. They also proposed a Lithuanian representative office in Taiwan to strengthen economic and trade exchanges between the two countries.

The headline of the article, which was published on Oct. 1 (Communist China's National Day), read "Instead of celebrating the establishment of Communist China, let's set up a Lithuanian representative office in Taiwan." The article then stated that anniversary celebrations had been canceled due to public outrage and that in the capital city of Vilnius, many people had instead organized an activity on the White Bridge to support Tibet and "commemorate victims of the Communist regime in China."

The three MPs pointed out that although Western countries follow the "one China" policy, this does not preclude them from cooperating closely with Taiwan at the same time. Having previously visited Taiwan, the three wrote that they were "amazed at the progress and potential of this Southeast Asian tiger."

They also wrote that "By successfully countering the frequent cyber and propaganda attacks of mainland China, Taiwan is successfully defending its democracy and freedom and is increasingly becoming the envy of leadership and survival around the world, much like Israel, South Korea, and of course, Lithuania."

They then praised Taiwan for having the 21st-largest economy in the world while being ranked 17th in competitiveness, 13th in economic freedom, and 3rd in investment climate. The MPs then pointed out that Germany, the U.S., Poland, and Japan all already have representative offices in Taiwan.

The three parliamentarians called on Lithuania to follow suit and comprehensively enhance academic and economic exchanges. During their visit to Taiwan, they said that German Institute Taipei Director Thomas Prinz informed them during their trip to the island that 5G chips, computer components, new biotech treatments, network security, financial electronic systems, artificial intelligence, robotics, and alternative energy technologies are all areas worthy of cooperation with Taiwan.

The article describes Taiwan as "The light of political freedom in Asia" and calls for more support in making Lithuania the first Baltic country to set up a trade and cultural representative office in Taiwan. In closing, the MPs cast doubt on whether Lithuanian authorities are willing to fulfill such an ambitious task while creating a greater balance with regard to their foreign policy.



