China: Due to Agne Vaiciukeviciute's trip to Taiwan, China has decided to sanction her and halt all communication with the Lithuanian Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Friday.
According to a statement, "China decides to adopt sanctions against Vaiciukeviciute in response to the egregious and provocative act of Vaiciukeviciute, to suspend all forms of communication with the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Lithuania, and to suspend communication and cooperation with Lithuania in the area of international road transport."
China's foreign ministry claims that Vaiciukeviciute's trip to Taiwan "trampled on" the one-China principle, showed a serious intrusion into domestic affairs, and threatened China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Beijing vehemently denounced the recent trip to Taiwan by a delegation from Lithuania led by Vaiciukevichiute on Thursday and vowed to take strong action in response.
The delegation from Lithuania, led by the transport minister, arrived in Taiwan on August 7 for a five-day visit. Representatives from Lithuania paid top-tier manufacturers of electric buses and transportation organisations in Taiwan a visit while there. As a result of Taipei opening its representative office in Vilnius in November 2021, ties between Lithuania and China became strained. Beijing unilaterally reduced its diplomatic ties with Lithuania to the rank of charges d'affaires as retaliation.
Although Taiwan has been run separately from the rest of China since 1949, Beijing sees the island as a province that broke away and an inalienable part of China that will eventually reunite with the mainland.
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