Nausėda: All Matters on Taiwanese Office Name Are Coordinated With Me

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has said he was briefed on the Foreign Ministry's talks with the Taiwanese Representative Office in Vilnius about a possible change to its name. The issue matters because Lithuania's diplomatic relations with China have been strained since autumn 2021, when the Taiwanese office opened in the Lithuanian capital.

"All matters are coordinated with me. We no longer live under the previous government, when the foreign minister [Gabrielius Landsbergis] could open a representative office simply by exchanging letters with another state, without consulting other institutions," Nausėda told reporters.

The news website Delfi reported on Monday that the Foreign Ministry had asked the Taiwanese office in September to change its name as part of efforts to normalise relations with Beijing. Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said the report was inaccurate but declined to comment further.

Asked whether he supported renaming the office, the president replied: "We will wait and see." Lithuania is first awaiting a meeting with Chinese diplomats scheduled for this week. According to Nausėda, relations with Beijing are currently "practically zero", so restoring diplomatic representation is the first priority. He stressed that Lithuania wants to normalise ties with China while maintaining good relations with Taiwan.

The president rejected the idea that opening the office had brought political "dividends", saying such claims exist in the rhetoric of some Conservatives, who led the previous coalition government, and sympathetic political scientists. An October review by the Ministry of Economy and Innovation also concluded that the office's opening had not significantly increased Lithuanian exports to Taiwan.

Opposition politicians have reacted sharply to the reports, arguing that such a move would amount to "appeasing authoritarian states". Remigijus Žemaitaitis, an opposition MP and leader of the Nemunas Dawn party, has proposed setting up a temporary parliamentary commission to investigate the alleged pressure on the Taiwanese representation. On November 6, the Taiwanese office said it had no intention of changing its name.

China responded to the office's opening by downgrading its diplomatic representation to the level of chargé d'affaires. Lithuania, in turn, refused to issue new accreditations to Chinese diplomats, leaving the country without them since May last year.