(Bloomberg) — China dismissed claims that Lithuania’s diplomats faced security risks in Beijing as “totally groundless,” amid deepening tensions between the two nations over the Baltic state’s ties with Taiwan.
“The Lithuania side didn’t raise any security issue with China and the ins and outs of all this thing is very clear,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular briefing in Beijing on Thursday.
“If the Lithuanian side refuses to own up to the reality and hopes to shift blame by spreading disinformation, it will bring greater impact to bilateral relations, hurt the feelings of the two peoples, and harm Lithuania ultimately,” Wang said.
Lithuania’s acting chargé d’affaires, the second in command at the embassy, returned to the capital Vilnius on Wednesday awaiting China’s decision on whether to accredit Lithuanian diplomats, according to the European country’s Foreign Ministry. Its embassy in Beijing will continue to work remotely, it said in a statement.
Tensions between China and Lithuania have soured since Taiwan opened a representative office in Vilnius last month, a move Beijing deems a violation of its one-China principle. China considers the democratically run island part of its territory and has asserted the right to take it by force, although Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen argues she leads a sovereign nation.
China earlier downgraded diplomatic ties with Lithuania, recalled its ambassador and allegedly stopped clearing Lithuanian exports, prompting the European Union to raise the dispute with the World Trade Organization. Chinese state-backed media Global Times has denied there are any trade disruptions.
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