By Yew Lun Tian
BEIJING -China’s overseas ministry mentioned on Friday it had imposed sanctions on Lithuanian Deputy Transport and Communications Minister Agne Vaiciukeviciute for visiting Taiwan, the newest improvement in a simmering diplomatic row with the European Union nation.
The overseas ministry mentioned Beijing would additionally droop engagement with Vaiciukeviciute’s ministry and cooperation on transportation with Lithuania, a small Baltic republic.
Lithuania’s Ministry of Transport and Communications mentioned it had acquired no official data concerning the matter and declined to remark additional.
China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory and is towards overseas politicians visiting the island. Democratically ruled Taiwan rejects China’s declare.
Lithuania’s current bolstering of relations with Taiwan has infuriated Beijing and led to a fall in Lithuanian exports to China within the first quarter of this yr to virtually zero.
Vaiciukeviciute mentioned on Twitter on Friday that she had visited three cities and two seaports and had 14 conferences in Taiwan over a five-day interval.
“A productive week in Taiwan, on the lookout for extra methods of LT Transport cooperation with TW maritime, transport and aviation firms,” she tweeted, referring to Lithuania and Taiwan by their abbreviations.
Vaiciukeviciute visited Taiwan days after U.S. Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In response to Pelosi’s go to, China launched huge navy drills round Taiwan, slapped sanctions on Pelosi and commerce restrictions with Taiwan.
When Lithuanian Vice Minister of the Economic system and Innovation Jovita Neliupsiene visited Taipei in June, she mentioned Lithuania deliberate to open a consultant workplace in Taiwan in September.
Lithuania has come below sustained Chinese language stress to reverse a call final yr to permit Taiwan to open a de facto embassy within the capital Vilnius below its personal identify.
China has downgraded diplomatic relations with Lithuania and pressured multinationals to sever ties with it.
In January, the European Union launched a problem on the World Commerce Group accusing China of discriminatory commerce practices towards Lithuania and arguing that this threatened the integrity of the EU’s single market.
China mentioned that it has all the time abided by WTO guidelines and that its downside with Lithuania is political, not financial, in nature.
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