TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan has not received a request to change the name of its de facto embassy in Lithuania, its foreign ministry said on Wednesday, after Reuters reported Lithuanian officials are discussing whether to ask Taiwan to modify the name.
The self-ruled island that China views as part of its territory opened the office last year, called the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania rather than using the word Taipei as is more common.
China, angered by the move, has downgraded its diplomatic relationship with Lithuania and pressed multinationals to sever ties with the country or face exclusion from its market.
Modifying the Chinese version of the representation name to refer to “Taiwanese people” rather than to Taiwan, was last week proposed https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/lithuania-considers-modifying-taiwan-representation-name-defuse-row-with-china-2022-01-25 by Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis to President Gitanas Nauseda as a way to reduce the tensions with China, sources said.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said there has been no request to change the name.
“Neither our country’s Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania nor the Foreign Ministry has ever received a request from the Lithuanian government to change the Chinese or English name,” it said.
The office’s name was set during bilateral consultations and there has been no change in Taiwan and Lithuania’s positions that they will continue to strengthen relations, the ministry added.
“Taiwan and Lithuania are important partners who share the values of freedom and democracy,” it said.
“In the future, our country will continue to work with international democratic allies to support Lithuania; even in difficult circumstances, Taiwan will continue to demonstrate the resilience and perseverance of a democratic country.”
Lithuania, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan. China routinely objects to any moves that suggests Taiwan is its own country.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
