Lithuania is learning the cost of standing up to China. Without E.U. backing, it may be forced to sit back down.

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Don’t messiness with the Middle Kingdom.

That’s the connection China is sending Lithuania, a tiny Baltic state of 2.8 million. Beijing unleashed withering penalties — including a de facto commercialized embargo and a downgrading of diplomatic relations — pursuing Vilnius’s determination to let Taiwan to unfastened a contentiously named typical office in Lithuania. A vocal professional of Beijing’s quality rights record, Lithuania besides announced successful December that it would not nonstop a authorities delegation to the Beijing Winter Games, successful performance with a U.S. diplomatic boycott.

Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis spoke with maine Thursday, up of a captious gathering connected the situation with his European Union peers connected Friday, and amid signs that Chinese unit is working.

As the costs equine for Lithuania — China has gone truthful acold arsenic to endanger companies that bash concern successful the state and clamp down connected European goods with Lithuanian parts — a caller canvass suggests lone 13 percent of the public supports their government’s China policy. The Foreign Ministry is present clarifying that it ne'er officially declared a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Games. Most significantly, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda connected Jan. 4 called it a “mistake” to fto Taiwan unfastened a section bureau nether its ain sanction — arsenic opposed to utilizing “Chinese Taipei,” a rubric often utilized elsewhere to debar the cognition of challenging China’s assertion to Taiwan.

So, is Lithuania backing down? Landsbergis suggested the reply volition beryllium connected whether the European Union stands with his state against Chinese tactics helium likened to the “Spanish Inquisition.”

This speech with Landsbergis has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

China denies that it has launched a punishing commercialized embargo against Lithuania. What really happened?

Our companies could nary longer find Lithuania arsenic a clearance enactment successful Chinese customs. As a country, we were conscionable removed arsenic an option. That was astir apt the astir assertive portion of evidence. But determination are a fig of others, and we are present presenting each the documents we person gathered to the European Commission’s commercialized department, and they volition beryllium assessing it from a ineligible standpoint.

President Nauseda precocious called the determination to let Taiwan to unfastened an bureau successful Vilnius nether its ain sanction “a mistake.” Is Lithuania rolling backmost that decision?

I don’t privation to remark connected the president’s statement. [But] I don’t deliberation that it was a mistake. The authorities doesn’t deliberation that it was a mistake to let the radical from Taiwan land to telephone themselves Taiwanese. We are precise intelligibly stating that it has not breached the one-China policy. … So what we are calling a mistake is China’s reaction — what our companies, European companies, are present facing. The mistake is [the Chinese government’s determination to] unilaterally rename Lithuania’s Embassy successful Beijing. This is simply a mistake, and idiosyncratic mightiness adjacent accidental that this is simply a breach of planetary regulations.

What did the Chinese alteration the sanction to?

I deliberation that they’re calling it thing similar an bureau of chargé d’affaires. We don’t adjacent person the anticipation of calling our offices that successful our legislation. They changed the name, they revoked our IDs, and that’s wherefore we had to evacuate our unit [from Lithuania’s Embassy successful Beijing.]

In December, Nauseda announced that neither helium nor immoderate different authorities curate would be the Beijing Winter Games, a determination seen arsenic tantamount to the diplomatic boycott declared by the Biden administration. But the Foreign Ministry has clarified that Lithuania is not staging specified a boycott. Can you explain?

What we’ve consistently said is that determination was nary authoritative determination to telephone it a boycott. On the different hand, nary authoritative is going to be and nary diplomatic unit is going to attend. But erstwhile we were asked, could you telephone it a diplomatic boycott, I was ever explaining determination was nary authoritative determination by the authorities oregon Parliament to telephone it that.

Was that clarification influenced by unit from China?

What bash you marque of the caller canvass indicating lone 13 percent of Lithuanians backmost the government’s hard stance connected China?

A canvass is simply a poll. It’s authoritative news. I’m not wholly blessed with however the question was phrased. But what I tin say, arsenic a politician, is this: Obviously the unit from China connected our companies is decidedly putting a strain connected gathering a wide statement connected the subject.

What has China’s actions outgo Lithuanian companies truthful far?

We’re talking successful the millions. In the tens of millions. What we’re doing is trying to assistance the companies get their cargo retired [of China]. It’s a batch of strain connected the authorities arsenic well. The biggest occupation is that China has escalated, targeting European companies, targeting German companies. This is wherefore we judge that it’s nary longer conscionable a bilateral issue. It’s a European one. And determination has to beryllium a European solution.

Have the Chinese done this successful the hopes that the E.U. volition unit Lithuania to backmost down?

That is 1 of the imaginable explanations.

Is that maneuver going to work?

It precise overmuch depends connected the European answer. There is simply a anticipation that Europe, that European companies, the large multinational companies, volition unit Lithuania. It’s present a question of whether the European Union tin withstand the unit due to the fact that evidently it’s not that hard to enactment a batch of unit connected Lithuania and expect it to break. Because there’s lone truthful overmuch unit we tin take. But if we basal successful solidarity, if we springiness a precise wide effect that specified coercion is not conscionable against 1 state successful the national that China tends not to like, but it’s much an incursion connected the azygous market, than we nonstop a awesome that this is against European rules.

Surely Lithuania knew China would respond forcefully to allowing Taiwan — which Beijing claims arsenic portion of China — to unfastened a typical bureau nether its ain name, arsenic opposed to utilizing Chinese Taipei, a rubric different countries often usage to get astir this question.

We basal by the content that radical tin person a sanction for their typical bureau of their liking if it’s agreed betwixt the 2 sides and if it’s not infringing connected immoderate planetary obligations. So we basal by it. But the escalation level that China decided to take is beyond thing that’s happened earlier against immoderate different state successful the world. This is similar the Spanish Inquisition, which cipher had expected.