Expert: if Lithuania continues to challenge China's core interests, it will not rule out breaking diplomatic relations in the future

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the afternoon of the 10th that it had decided to recall the Chinese ambassador to Lithuania and asked the legislative government to recall the Chinese ambassador. In this statement, the Chinese Ministry of foreign affairs pointed out that the reason for making this decision was that "the Lithuanian government announced that it would allow the Taiwan authorities to set up a" representative office "in the name of" Taiwan "regardless of China's repeated representations and interests". Several scholars of China EU relations told the global times on the 10th that the withdrawal of the ambassador is very rare in China's diplomatic history, indicating that Lithuania has violated China's core interests. If Lithuania continues its challenge to China in the future, it will not rule out the situation of breaking diplomatic relations between the two countries. Analysts also believe that it is expected that the EU will be difficult to form a unified position on Lithuania in the short term.

According to media reports, Wu zhaoxie, the "foreign minister" of the Democratic Progressive Party, announced on July 20 that Taiwan would set up a "Taiwan Representative Office in Lithuania" in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Wu zhaoxie said that the "representative office in Lithuania" is the first "representative office" in European countries under the name of "Taiwan". On the same day, Zhu Fenglian, spokesman of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, responded that she opposed the development of official relations between China and Taiwan, and urged Lithuania to abide by the one China principle and not send the wrong signal to the "Taiwan independence" forces.

Liu Zuokui, director of the central and Eastern Europe Research Office of the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the global times on the 10th that diplomatically speaking, withdrawing an ambassador is an action of high severity, second only to breaking diplomatic relations. Obviously, China has made a great counterattack against the recent behavior of Lithuania. He said that Lithuania allowed the DPP authorities to set up a "representative office" in the name of "Taiwan", which was more serious than the previous visit of Czech parliamentarians to Taiwan, because parliamentarians could not act on behalf of the government, and Lithuania was an unquestionable government act this time. Therefore, China's counterattack was expected.

Cui Hongjian, director of the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of international studies, said in an interview with the global times on the 10th that Lithuania violated China's core interests on the Taiwan issue and had a direct impact on the political basis of bilateral relations. China's recall of the ambassador was intended to convey a clear attitude of "never accept" to the cube. This move is very rare in the history of China's diplomacy, which also shows that bilateral relations have encountered serious setbacks.

Public information shows that the last time China recalled its ambassadors abroad was back in 1995. At that time, because the US government allowed Lee Teng Hui to "visit the United States", China recalled its then ambassador to the United States, Li Daoyu.

Should China's withdrawal of its ambassador to Lithuania be examined on the "background" of China EU relations? Cui Hongjian believes that the changes in neutral relations are related to the difficulties and challenges encountered in China EU relations, but it should be noted that neutral relations also reflect many differences from the relations between China and most European countries.

He further explained that the main reason for the recent changes in Lithuania's attitude towards China is the "resonance" between its domestic political changes and international geopolitical changes - that is, the new Lithuanian government's judgment on geopolitics has changed after taking office, coupled with the influence exerted on it by the Biden government after taking office. Therefore, Lithuania has always performed poorly in the firmness of its foreign policy.

After recalling ambassadors to each other, what direction will neutral relations and China EU relations develop? Liu Zuokui believes that if Lithuania continues to refuse exchanges with the Taiwan authorities, it will be difficult for China Lithuania relations to show signs of improvement. Previously, Lithuania did not take any measures to reduce differences, but tried to escalate the situation. If there are more and more such acts, the possibility of breaking diplomatic relations between the two countries will not be ruled out in the future.

Xin Qiang, a professor at Fudan University who focuses on cross-strait relations, told the global times that China's recall of its ambassador to Lithuania not only considered the situation of neutral bilateral relations, but also warned some other countries not to misjudge the situation and follow Lithuania's example. At the same time, it is also a statement to the US government.

As for the EU's response, Cui Hongjian said that although the EU has always emphasized diplomatic consistency, there may be differentiation on this matter. On the one hand, some countries may express some support for Lithuania, but other countries will not agree to adopt Lithuania's approach on Taiwan related issues. It is expected that the EU will not form a unified position on this matter in the short term.

On August 7, Shen Zhifei, Chinese ambassador to Lithuania, published a signed article entitled "Taiwan belongs to China is an international consensus" in the mainstream media Republic Daily, pointing out that the Lithuanian government has repeatedly flagrantly violated the "one China" principle and the norms of international relations on the Taiwan issue and given substantive support to the "Taiwan independence" forces through the establishment of mutual "representative offices", It has seriously violated China's sovereignty and interfered with China's reunification process. The Lithuanian government's desire to expand the Asian market is understandable, but China firmly opposes any country's political manipulation in the name of economic, trade and cultural exchanges and the development of any official relations with Taiwan.